AN appeal against Waverley Borough Council’s non-determination of a plan to to build a house on “leftover” land in Wood Road, Hindhead, has been dismissed.

Despite not determining the application in time, the borough council objected the proposed building was out of character and would result in a loss of amenity for neighbours.

Planning inspector Patrick Whelan noted the site was “a spatial anomaly, appearing as space left over” from a recent development of four large houses at Trimmers Field.

He reported: “Its footprint would be smaller than the houses opposite, and it would have almost no back garden. It would be dressed in the architectural form and language of a large house with the frontage of a large plot, yet it would actually be a smaller house on a smaller plot. Placing a scaled-down version of its larger neighbours on to this tighter site would undermine the integrity of the surrounding pattern of development.”

The inspector concluded the benefit of an extra house to meet local demand was outweighed by its harm to the character of the area.