A row over metal racking which looks like a “rollercoaster” and towers over several private gardens, has culminated in a council effectively ordering it to be taken down.
The racking, erected by Crendon Timber Engineering in East Harling, near Thetford, had sparked anger from people in neighbouring properties, who said it blighted their view.
One of them, Jenny Mason, had called it a "rollercoaster-looking-like structure" and said the company’s decision to put it up without planning permission was “disgusting”.
The company said it had not realised that planning permission would be needed for the racking, which they said was needed to provide storage capacity, and to allow their site to operate more efficiently.
Now, planning officers at Breckland Council have decided to deny the project the retrospective planning permission it had been seeking.
In a decision notice issued on Monday, September 12, the officers said the racking was “a visually prominent feature which fails to add to the overall quality of the area and would be detrimental to the appearance of the street scene and the character of the area”.
They added that while they had discussed the neighbours’ concerns with Crendon, “the issues are so fundamental to the proposal that it has not been possible to negotiate a satisfactory solution and due to the harm which has been clearly identified within the reason(s) for the refusal, approval has not been possible”.
The local parish authority - Roudham and Larling Parish Council - had already called for the application to be refused, saying that the racking "dominates the gardens of the residents, and it can be clearly seen from the B1111 too".
Speaking on Tuesday, Miss Mason said she was "over the moon" with the decision.
"My neighbour came round yesterday and said 'Yay, we've done it!'
"[The fact that] we've sat and looked at it for six weeks, with no planning permission, and now it's been refused - that's made us all really angry.
"We've had so much support from the community, we've all stuck together and just done everything we can possibly can. The fact that it's been refused is massive."
Crendon said in August that it had tried to hold informal conversations with neighbours to see if the racking's appearance could be improved.
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