A DARWEN householder has been refused approval to use an annex to his property as a separate detached house.

Lee Partington had applied for planning permission to change the use of the outbuilding at Hole House Barn, Bank Fold Lane, in Pickup Bank.

But Blackburn with Darwen Council has refused the bid.

A report by senior planner Christian Barton said: "The application site is an outbuilding that is positioned within the grounds of Hole House Barn, which is positioned within an allocated Countryside Area.

"The existing use of the building is for annex accommodation yet there is no planning history for the building currently in situ.

"The building has a footprint of circa 48 square metres and a dual-pitched roof up to 3.4m in height.

"Pale render and grey concrete tiles have been used to finish the building and it has been fitted with white uPVC doors and windows.

"The annex has a lounge/kitchen area, bathroom and single bedroom.

"It has a defined garden area and patio to the rear.

"Vehicular access is gained to the south from an unmade private road.

"Fields surround to two sides with dwellings and equestrian buildings positioned to the northwest and northeast.

"This application involves changing the use of the detached building from annexe to an independent dwellinghouse.

"No external alterations are proposed to the building itself, yet two off-street vehicle parking spaces would be formed where the patio currently is.

"Vehicular access would be shared with Hole House Barn via an existing five bar gate.

"Whilst the site falls within a cluster of existing dwellings, they form a very small group which does not form part of a recognisable village, hamlet or other form of settlement.

"Case law is clear on these types of applications and the severance of a freestanding annexe from the main dwelling is not lawfully classed as a ‘subdivision’.

"Such allowances only apply to new dwellings formed within the fabric of existing ones.

"However, it is strongly advised that the applicant applies for a Certificate of Lawfulness relating to the position of the outbuilding to ascertain whether the building is immune from any enforcement action relating to operational development i.e. within four years."

The refusal notice says: "The proposals would involve the formation of an independent dwelling within an isolated countryside location, and they would not represent a sustainable form of development, nor would they benefit from any relevant exemptions for such forms of development."