AN APPEAL to build a three-bedroom cottage in Itchenor was dismissed – but an application for costs by the council was also turned down.
The application was for the land south of Goose Barn on Itchenor Road.
Chichester District Council said the plans would be a harmful intrusion into the countryside and would represent overdevelopment.
The council claimed the application was contrary to local and planning policies so had no chance of success.
However, although the planning inspector Simon Hand ruled the appeal should be dismissed, he also rejected the claims for costs from the council.
He said ‘the site is part of a larger area of land defined as an important rural gap’ and the house would ‘look out of place’ on the plot of land.
“Although the design of the house itself is interesting and would fit into West Itchenor as a whole, it is the development of this particular plot that is the problem, rather than the style of house to go on it,” he said.
However, he did not agree with the council’s claim that the application had no chance of being approved and they should be awarded costs.
“Although I did not agree with the appellants’ arguments, it was not self-evident the appeal would fail,” he said.
However, he then went on to say: “Consequently, I do not think it was so unreasonable to make this appeal that an award of costs is justified.”