Bolton couple win approval to turn footpath into garden

Mr and Mrs First, of Sandown Road in Bradshaw, have been granted full planning permission to convert a strip of adopted highway land at the front of their bungalow into residential use and to erect new boundary fencing.

The land in question consists of a footpath and grassed area which cuts across the front of several properties and has long been adopted as public highway.

The couple applied in January to incorporate the area into their garden.

During the course of the application, the proposed height of the front and side boundary fence was reduced from 1.2 metres to 0.95 metres following discussions with planning officers.

The proposed site layout (Image: Bolton Council)

Bolton Council’s highways engineers raised no objections to the loss of highway land, subject to the applicants formally extinguishing the highway rights through the Department for Transport’s National Casework Team.

That legal process, carried out under the Town and Country Planning Act, must be completed at the applicants’ expense before the land can officially cease to be highway.

Planning officers said the existing vehicular access points to the property would remain in place and that there would be no changes to parking arrangements.

In their report, officers concluded that the modest extension of the garden and the low-level close-boarded fence would not harm the character of the area, which is characterised by open frontages, lawns, driveways and a mix of low walls, fencing and hedging.

They also found the proposal would not adversely affect neighbouring properties, and would not result in the loss of any on-site habitat.

Recommending approval, the planning officer said the development complies with both local and national planning policies and would not result in harm to residential amenity or highway safety.

Planning permission has now been granted, subject to the completion of the required legal process to remove the land’s highway status.