New home would be bigger

PLANS have been submitted to demolish and replace a house in Bell Lane, Henley.

Hilary Kelly has asked South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority, for permission to build a four-bedroom property.

The applicant had considered extending and altering the existing single-storey property but decided to replace it instead after taking advice from the council.

The new property would also be single-storey but with a larger footprint and a double garage to release parking space.

The site is not in a conservation area but it is in a flood zone and contains a number of protected trees.

A planning statement by Anderson Orr Architects submitted with the application says: “The new dwelling will not be unneighbourly and will not impact on the amenities of the adjacent dwellings in terms of loss of privacy, overbearingness or loss of light.

“The new house and garage will be sited in positions whereby impact on trees will be mitigated.

“The house will be built to modern standards of construction and will be significantly more energy efficient and sustainable than the dwelling it is replacing.

“It will have a higher finished floor level than the existing house and will also have a sub-floor void, which will improve the situation in the unlikely event that the site was to flood.”

A public consultation will run until January 19.

The council is due to make a decision by February 8.