A “castle wall” home extension in Painswick has been rejected amid fears about overdevelopment.

Stroud District planners have rejected a bid to build a rear and side extension at Beech View in The Park, Painswick.

The developers wanted permission to demolish the existing rear single storey extension and build a U-shape flat roof rear extension that extended from the rear gable, along the rear of the home.

It would protrude to the eastern boundary and measured around 15 metres long and projects 6.1m past the side of the existing property.

The proposal includes significant engineering works to alter the land levels by digging down to set the proposed extension into the land.

Officers recommended rejecting the scheme due to its scale and lack of information regarding the presence of bats.

They said the 15-metre-long Cotswold stone wall on the boundary to open countryside represented a poor quality design.

“The extension is urban in form and represents overdevelopment of the modest plot which results in a built form that is incompatible with nor respectful of the character and form of the both the host dwelling and wider local vernacular.

“The proposal would be a jarring and strident feature within the street scene and the public right of way whilst also being harmful to the Cotswold National Landscape.”

Andy Cash, of Painswick Parish Council, spoke at the development control committee meeting on October 22.

He raised concerns over the scale and massing of the property.

“We believe it should be refused on several grounds,” he said. “The proposals is disproportionate to the original dwelling resulting in a substantial increase in size and mass.”

Hannah Theron, applicant, said Beech View has been her and her husband’s sanctuary for seven years.

“It is where we continue living to raise our children, Noah, 9, Evie who is five. But without making changes to our home our family will outgrow it and we will have to move.

“An award winning deeply sensitive architect has designed a subtle and considerate single storey extension that will only be seen from a very short part of the lane in front of us.”

She said the extension had been designed to appear as a garden wall when seen from the lane.

And she said five neighbours had written in support of the scheme and apart from the parish council there were no other objections.

Speaking during the debate, Councillor Martin Pearcy (G, Coaley and Uley) said the applicants had made a great deal of effort in considering their extension to sit well in the landscape and improve its ecological credentials.

“It’s a bit like a castle wall with some cannon holes in it, which I quite like actually,” he said.

“I do understand the point of potential overdevelopment of the site and I do think more than doubling the size of the footprint is going to be classified as over development.”

Chairman Martin Baxendale (G, Stroud Valley) urged the committee to take the advice of officers. The committee voted to reject the proposals by six to one.