A planning inspector has dismissed an appeal lodged after plans for a replacement extension with a “contemporary character” on a Grade II listed property in Bath were refused.
Last December applications for planning permission and listed building consent to demolish a single-storey rear extension at Belgrave Cottage on Camden Road and build a new one were thrown out by planners at Bath & North East Somerset Council.
The scheme proposed lowering the ground level and adding a new single-storey flat-roof extension.
It also involved some other work on the three-storey building, including a change to the use of some of the rooms.
Bath Preservation Trust had said the 20th-century additions were of no historic value and it considered the replacement extension was acceptable in principle.
But in refusing the proposals, council planning officers said the elevated position, size and design of the proposed extension would look unduly prominent and obtrusive against the property and surrounding area.
They said it would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the area, failed to preserve or enhance this part of the Bath Conservation Area, failed to preserve the listed building and its setting, and would result in harm to the outstanding universal values of the City of Bath World Heritage Site.
The homeowners appealed to the Secretary of State in April but the council’s decision has been upheld by an inspector who said the plans would not preserve the Grade II listed building, or its special architectural or historic interest features, and would have a negative effect on nearby listed buildings; it would also be harmful to the conservation area and World Heritage Site.