BUILDING a new house on the edge of Pangbourne village “simply cannot be allowed to happen”, councillors have warned.

Plans to build a new house on the edge of the village, cutting through the settlement boundary, were refused on March 11.

The “sacrosanct” settlement boundary is a line drawn around a village, that prevents new buildings on the outskirts from increasing the size of that village.

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The new house would have been built in the garden of another house off Bere Court Road, Pangbourne, just outside of the settlement boundary. The plans include the demolition of an existing barn and to replace it with a single-storey house.

Mike Milton, the architect who designed the plans, said: “The land is in use as a garden for the existing house. We want to replace the barn currently used for domestic storage.

“It would be a highly energy efficient home, and appear to be the same as the barn from the neighbours’ properties. The new house will not be visible from the road, and all trees on the site will be kept.”

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Mr Milton made the comments at a meeting of the eastern area planning committee, on March 11, at West Berkshire Council — when councillors voted to refuse planning permission.

But compromising the settlement boundary “cannot be allowed to happen”, according to Councillor Gareth Hurley (Con, Pangbourne); who couldn’t attend the meeting, but passed on a statement to be read out on his behalf.

Cllr Hurley said: “One of the attractions of Pangbourne, which we are very grateful for, is the fact that it is a village, steeped in history with a thriving community. It is not a town and does not want to become one.

“Geographical features have resulted in constraining the footprint of the village, preventing the potential for urban spread, along with our precious village settlement boundary.

“Through successive planning applications we are seeing constant attempts to either breach or exceed the settlement boundary, often with detrimental consequences to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, adjacent properties, flooding and climate change.

“The settlement boundary is sacrosanct and cannot be compromised — in any way, shape or form. This simply cannot be allowed to happen.”