PLANS for a pair of semi-detached houses in the 26-acre grounds of a newly-built country house at Thelwall have been thrown out by a government-appointed planning inspector.
The inspector, Victoria Lucas-Gosnold, ruled that the development would be inappropriate because it detracted from the openness of the Green Belt and would be harmful to the character and appearance of the area, in particular a protected lime tree.
The proposals at Massey Hall, Half Acre Lane, Thelwall, were originally rejected by borough planners in January last year but the applicant, Richard Nevinson, lodged an appeal.
Massey Hall is a large dwelling bult on the site of a Victorian hall which in recent years was used as a school. It was demolished as part of a scheme for the construction of the present building which was granted planning permission in March 2011.
The pair of semi-detached house were described as being for employees of the Massey Hall Estate – a house manager and a security officer.
Ms Lucas-Gosnold said she appreciated that the appellant required a house manager and a security officer to ensure the property was secure and protected from the potential for crime. However, while the hall was large and in extensive grounds, she had been given little information as why alternative methods such as CCTV would not be appropriate..
Overall, she ruled that the very special circumstances necessary to overrule harm to the Green Belt did not exist.
Country estate homes rejected
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I cant understand how and why the hall was ever demolished in the first place and not protected and made a listed building. On the point of it being a Victorian building. Ancestors of mine owned and lived at Massey Hall Massey Green Thelwall. in the 1600s. So I guess there must have been a previous hall on the same land. These were Peter Drinkwater and before that William Massey. I have never been able to find any documented evidence of the old property, only on a very old map and from their wills.Name: Peter Drinkwater
abode: Thelwall, Massey Green
Occupation: Gentleman
Event date: 1664
Record type: Codicil
Notes: WC – SEE WS 1663
Collection: Cheshire Probate Records
William Massey lived at Massey Green, Thelwall, Cheshire, England
Child of William Massey
Alice Massey
Citations
[S40] L. G. Pine, editor, Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 17th edition, (London, England: Burke’s Peerage Ltd, 1952), page 1504. Hereinafter cited as Burke’s Landed Gentry, 17th ed.
William Sothern married Alice Massey, daughter of William Massey.
He lived at Appleton, Cheshire, England