Objections buried over house built into slope

Councillors meeting at County Hall, in Beverley, voted seven to two to allow Alison Botten to add a garage to the house to be built in a slope next to Grade I listed St Michael’s Church at Garton-on-the-Wolds.

She secured approval last year on appeal after a seven-year battle, but had to come back to committee again for the garage, which attracted objections from the parish council, parochial church council and ward councillor Felicity Temple.

Ms Botten said the plus side of the saga was ending up with a “totally unique” home. The committee’s approval was the first time they had showed support for the plans in eight years.

She said: “We are delighted that sense prevailed and there was sufficient support from the committee to endorse their own officer’s recommendation. We are still in shock as we had anticipated yet another knockback.

“We started off with humble ideas and a very traditional vernacular design for this site. The upside of such a lengthy planning battle has been we have ended up with a totally unique home so much better than we ever dreamed of.”

The single-storey “earth-sheltered” two-bedroom home will be set into an existing slope and have a turfed roof to blend into the surroundings. The plans, designed by Beverley architect Jonathan Hobson, include a ground source heating system.

“Earth sheltering” has become popular in recent times, but has been around for nearly as long as humans have been constructing their own shelter. Ms Botten added: “We will be doing much of the building work ourselves with local tradespeople and using specialist firms as needed. Now that we have approval for the addition of the garage it will be full steam ahead in the spring with the hopeful arrival of good weather.”