Garage may have to come down
A “monstrous” garage may face having to be torn down after planners refused a retrospective planning application for it to stay in place.
Anglesey Council’s planning committee refused permission for the plans in Llanddaniel on the recommendation of officers, citing its size and design as areas of concern.
According to the report to councillors, a recent site visit found the steel frame of the garage had already been erected without planning permission, 13.8m long x 9.2m wide and 5.7m in height and covering a greater area than the house next door.
Members were told during Wednesday’s virtual meeting that further work had taken place since the site visit, including the walls and roof, and would be used to store vehicles and a campervan.
It was described by officers as “resembling an industrial unit more than a conventional garage”, with a letter of objection having been submitted.
Local member Cllr Eric Wyn Jones urged councillors to back the applicant: “The garage would be for private use and wouldn’t have any impact on anyone and can’t be seen from the road.”
But fellow local member Cllr Dafydd Roberts described the plans as a “monstrosity”, with the size of the garage not justifying its intended use.
Cllr John Griffith added: “This is no ordinary garage. Something over 18 feet in height is something akin to what you’ll see on industrial units.”
Cllr Ken Hughes said it was “all a matter of opinion”: there were policies to both justify and oppose such a development.
The plans were voted against by councillors, meaning enforcement action is likely unless a successful appeal is lodged.
Pointing to several other garages approved on Anglesey over recent years, the supporting statement accompanying the application noted: “While the shed may be larger than some, that in itself does not make such a proposal unacceptable.”
Adding that the proposal needed to be looked at “in its context” as well as if it had any impact at all on the locality, it concluded: “If there are other cases similar in nature that have been approved there is a duty to compare and assess.”