A man is seeking planning permission to build an “earth sheltered dwelling” in the grounds of a former historic mansion. Philip Austin has previously transformed Bryn Mel Manor into 10 flats and now wants to build his dream underground home.
The new home next to the Menai Strait would be mainly hidden from view with with only the roof, front wall and garage showing with the roof covered in grassy meadow. He is now applying for planning permission for the venture which he says will be fully net zero – with even all the construction work offset through green measures.
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Should it be given the go ahead it would be an impressive home with five bedrooms and a landscaped hidden courtyard that would make Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox jealous. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
A planning statement from NG Planning said: “The vast majority of the dwelling will be built into the existing ground with only the proposed roof, front wall and garage / parking being visible. The proposed roof will be intensively planted with turf meadow (or similar) and be graded back into the landscape to ensure that the dwelling respects the existing ground levels.
“Stone faced retaining walls, in keeping with existing structures, will be visible at the front of the proposed dwelling. The proposed design includes for two central courtyards accessed at first floor level with balconies overlooking at second floor level. These two courtyards provide the majority of amenity / garden area for the proposed dwelling and have been designed to ensure that natural sunlight is available during the daylight hours.”
They added: “The dwelling will be built to Passive House standards to ensure that it meets ‘Net Carbon Zero’ being offset through appropriate Welsh centric initiatives in support of the March 2021 Senedd Cymru approved net zero target for 2050. To the best of our knowledge there have been no such properties built in Wales to date. The construction will include offsetting of not only construction materials but every aspect of the construction including but not limited to equipment use, energy used in conjunction with the construction (transport, plant etc).”
The statement concludes: “Taking the above into account, it is considered that the proposed development is sympathetic to the character of the area and can be accommodated without unacceptably impacting upon residential amenity of the surrounding dwellings. Therefore it is considered that the proposed development fully accords with the adopted Local Development Plan policies.” This will now be considered by planners at Anglesey council.
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