PLANNING bosses rejected proposals for an “overbearing and oppressive” new house in Emmer Green.

Neighbours appealed to the borough council’s planning applications committee to refuse permission to build a five-bedroom home between numbers 16 and 18 St Barnabas Road because of the impact it would have on light and privacy.

Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday last week, neighbour John Holland told committee members that the new home would block out 93 per cent of the natural heat and sunlight at number 18.

He said: “We feel the impact to our light and privacy from the overbearing nature of this proposed property is significant. The light in a significant part of the day would be blocked.” Mr Holland called for a moratorium on future plans for that site because this is the second application for a new building this year after a four-bedroom home was refused in February.

But the applicant’s agent, Mick Howlett, denied the borough’s officers’ assessment that the leafy road is semi-rural, insisting it is a suburban area. He said: “The proposal reflects the size and type of house that are further up on St Barnabas Road.

“This property makes its own contribution to the area. The proposal can be viewed as a positive contribution to the diversity of the street.” But the committee agreed with the officers’ recommendations to refuse the plans, with Peppard ward councillor Simon Robinson accusing the applicant of ignoring the reasons why the first application had been denied.

He said: “I do share the concerns concerning this development. I feel that the applicant has not heeded the reasons why the first application was not granted.

“I can see the impact it would have in terms of being overbearing, but also in terms of the character of that particular part of the road.”