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Row continues over houses built too high

BBC A garden with a row of houses behind it, there is a fence in between the garden and the houses. A washing line can be seen stretching from the right hand side to the left rear corner of the garden. There is a green-painted shed in the right hand corner of the garden.BBC
Nearby residents have been left unhappy after the new estate was built 2.4m (7.8 ft) higher than the original plans

A dispute over a housing estate that was built too high remains unresolved despite years of complaints from people living nearby.

Residents living next to Persimmon Homes’ Pottery Gardens development in Cheadle, Staffordshire, said their homes were being overlooked after new houses were built on land that was raised 2.4m (7.8 ft) higher than expected.

The developer Persimmon has been in talks with neighbours about how to resolve the issue.

On Wednesday, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council's planning committee told the developer it had to go back and find a solution the neighbours would agree to.

Persimmon had applied to make changes to the estate’s original planning permission – which was granted in 2020 – by altering the site's layout and adding a retaining wall in between the estate and the neighbouring properties below.

A previous attempt to alter their original plans was rejected in March 2023, and saw the developer sent back to meet with residents.

Since then, it has only reached an agreement with some of the affected residents in Ness Grove and Ayr Road.

The planning committee said it was not satisfied with the prospect of a retaining wall being built in a piecemeal manner because Persimmon had not managed to bring all the residents on board.

A gap in between two red brick houses, with a row of houses in the background. There is a fence panel and two water butts in the foreground.
The developer said it had been consulting extensively with residents

Chris Kershaw, development director at Persimmon Homes North West, told the committee the firm would continue its efforts to try to come up with a solution to the problem which all of the neighbouring residents would agree to.

Meanwhile, planning officer Ben Haywood told the committee the issue of floor levels had now been set, and could not be revisited - but Adrian Milward, one of the affected residents in Froghall Road, insisted this was central to the matter.

He said he was in the fourth year of his complaint against Persimmon, and called for an independent planning authority to look at the application.

“How can you build a storey higher on someone’s level boundary, and that be acceptable? It’s got to be reviewed," he said.

“We’re running a two-tier system here at the moment. Large developers are getting carte blanche and building what they want, local residents are working within the planning constraints.”

Speaking last year, resident Tina Cross said people upstairs in the new homes were able to see her sitting on her bed.

"The houses have been built too high and too close, invading our privacy," she said.

A pale wooden fence in the foreground can be seen with a row of red brick houses behind it. The windows of the upper floor of the houses are visible above the level of the fence.
Some residents on Ness Grove and Ayr Road have complained about being overlooked

Committee chair Peter Wilkinson said: "As it stands we’re not happy with the proposals.

"I think it needs to be deferred, and all the demands of the residents who have been affected – we need one solution."

The committee voted to defer the application to allow Persimmon to continue talks with the residents.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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