Plans to demolish an existing home’s extension to build a new house near the M1 have been shot down by Watford Borough Council.

If agreed, the proposals would have seen the side storage building of a semi-detached house at the end of a cul-de-sac in The Gossamers knocked down.

A two-storey, two-bedroom house would have been built in its place and extending through the ‘no-mans-land’ wooded area to the edge of the site boundary, which screens the property from the M1.

/The site where the home would be built, in The Gossamers. (Image: Google Maps/Canva)

But in a decision today, June 24, the council blocked the plans due to “unacceptable” lack of sufficient floorspace. 

The new home would have housed four people across two bedrooms and only measured 66 square metres inside compared to the prescribed minimum of 79 square metres.

Officers also said the “discordant” design would have affected the surrounding area’s character as it would have been much narrower than the neighbouring houses.

Meriden residents also logged six objections with the borough council which raised concerns over intrusion into neighbour’s privacy and reduced parking when the home is completed.