Plans to build a new house in the rear garden of a property in Falmouth’s Killigrew Street have been rejected by councillors despite having the backing of the case officer at Cornwall Council.

Cedric and Jane Wynter had sought consent to build the one bedroom house on a plot which would effectively have been next to 24 Raleigh Place. The scheme had attracted objections from nearby residents, particularly Karen Slydel, who claimed the new home would lead to loss of privacy and light to her home, could undermine the foundations of her house and result in damp.

Planning case officer, Matthew Doble had recommended the application for conditional approval claiming it would provide additional residential development in a sustainable location and would not generate any adverse harm to the character and appearance of the area, the amenities of neighbour or the highway network.

However, the application was brought before Cornwall Council’s central sub-area planning committee on the request of local member Candy Atherton, where it was refused. The reason given for this was that the proposed property would be intrusive on Ms Slydel due to loss of amenity space and also that as the site has little space the house would |be inappropriate development and overdevelopment of the garden, harming the character and appearance of the conservation area.