The house was separated from the footway by a narrow lightwell behind iron railings. The appellant proposed to install a lead roof over the lightwell to provide a lobby to the cellar. Houses in the square had white-painted stucco and ornamentation and black-painted ironwork, leading to a uniform composition.
The inspector accepted that development of any part of the facades facing the square, including the lightwells, risked diluting this uniformity and harming the special interest of the listed building. But he noted that many of the houses had already been modified with basement roofs.
Where these had been carefully detailed and executed they were neither conspicuous nor out of keeping, he found. He acknowledged that the appeal extension would be more capacious than most but observed that the lightwell in which it would stand was also larger. He decided that the proposal would be proportionate and inconspicuous.
DCS Number 100-051-613
Inspector David Nicholson; Written representations.
