PLANS to build three new houses in Heywood Reservoir have been accepted after an appeal.

The application site is a decommissioned reservoir in Hartford. The site sits behind existing dwellings that front Chester Road, with access being gained via a track between two dwellings.

The initial plans were submitted in 2015 and were rejected due to the height of the houses being greater than the original reservoir which Cheshire West and Chester Council deemed to be detrimental to the Green Belt.

In August 2016 an appeal was accepted with conditions and the reserved matters plans have now been granted permission.

The site has an access road which run between two houses.

The officer’s report states: “The use of this access to serve the proposed dwellings was approved at Outline stage.

“The Inspector added a number of conditions relating to the access which remain to be discharged.

“The Inspector was satisfied that the use of the access road was acceptable.

“The Council's highway officer has considered the current proposals and raises no objections on highway safety grounds and notes that the works to the access with Chester Road and to the access track itself accord with what was presented and agreed at the previous outline application stage.

“The impact of the development upon the openness of the Green Belt was considered by the Inspector who assessed the scale of the dwellings shown on the outline application and compared that to the existing structures on site.

“He was satisfied that there was to be a significant reduction in built form on the site and that there would therefore be no impact upon openness.”

During construction it is expected that there will be some disturbances for the immediate neighbours near the site, but the applicant states that this will be only be temporary due to the modest scale of the development.