Treehouse-style hut approved despite worries over privacy

A TREEHOUSE-STYLE hut for an autistic child has been given retrospective planning approval despite opposition from some neighbours who were worried about overlooking.

- RICHARD YOULE

Carmarthenshire Council's planning committee visited the hut after hearing about the application at a meeting last month. Cllr Steve Williams said he'd been able to see a woman sitting at her computer in a nearby property from it.

Convening at County Hall on September 23, councillors said the site visit had been worthwhile. The deferral had also allowed a further letter of support from a social worker helping the child, who said the raised structure was better off in the front rather than rear garden of the detached property in Five Roads, near Llanelli.

A committee report said a front garden hut of its scale, visible from various points on Rehoboth Road, would not normally be permitted but that in this instance the garden was large and generally well-enclosed.

It added that the child had previously been involved in a collision on the road because of his tendency to climb the front wall of the property. The meeting also heard he had also fallen from a first-floor window and had been taken to hospital.

Council planning officer John Thomas said the hut was substantially completed and that applicant Jonathan Wilshire hadn't realised permission was needed.