'˜Eco-house' plan refused

The application was subject to a number of objections with some locals suggesting it would be a ‘blot on the landscape’ and was more in keeping with the Manchester district of Moss Side than the High Peak.

In refusing the application, council planners said the drawings indicated ‘poor design’ as a result of its massing, shape, height and ‘awkward and discordant’ details.

And as a result of the site’s prominent and exposed position, elevated above Macclesfield Main Road and open to wide-ranging views, the planners also said the development would appear as an ‘unduly prominent and incongruous visual intrusion within the landscape which would be seriously harmful to local visual amenity’.

Furthermore, the council thought the site of the proposed new house was ‘poorly located’ by virtue of its distance from the nearest local facilities and would be unsustainable within the open countryside as a result.

Finally, the planners stated the proposed development would have a ‘significant urbanising impact upon the prevailing rural landscape which would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the area’.