Home plan rejected due to protected trees

Officers said approving the plan would open the door to future applications to prune or lop back the trees

An application to build a six-bedroom house has been rejected over concerns about protected trees.

The plan, submitted by Numan Ismail, would have seen a three-storey home and adjacent area for car parking built next to 7 Shaftesbury Avenue in Bradford.

Council officers said the works, which included building a new access route to the site, could not take place without encroaching into the root protection area.

Planning officer Andrew Moxon said: "It is difficult to approve plans knowing they might cause harm to these trees."

The house would be so close to the protected trees that there would be a great deal of overshadowing and the garden space would be in their shade, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

This meant it was likely there would be future applications to prune or lop back the trees, officers said.

Ian Barns, an arboriculturist speaking on behalf of the applicant, said he had a "high degree of confidence" that the trees could be retained alongside the new home.

"It is misleading to say you can't build in a root protection zone," he added.

Bradford Council's planning panel voted to reject the application in a meeting on Wednesday.

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