A CONTROVERSIAL planning application for a bungalow in the back garden of a former Mayor s St Albans property has been given the go-ahead. At a central planning committee meeting, permission was granted to build a two bedroom bungalow in the back garden o

A CONTROVERSIAL planning application for a bungalow in the back garden of a former Mayor's St Albans property has been given the go-ahead.

At a central planning committee meeting, permission was granted to build a two bedroom bungalow in the back garden of 38 Bernard Street, which has been empty ever since district councillor Gordon Myland moved out in 2006.

An application to build a two-storey home on the vacant site was refused at the end of 2008 and following the dismissal of an appeal in May last year, developers Pro-Build put in an application last November to build a single-storey bungalow there instead.

District councillor for St Peter's ward Cllr Michael Green called in the application for determination by committee because he claimed that Bernard Street residents still considered the new application to be unacceptable.

Cllr Green said that the bungalow would remain "clearly visible from the rear aspect of houses in Bernard Street", a complaint mirrored by letters of objection from nearly 20 aggrieved local residents.

But vice-chairman of the committee Cllr Tom Clegg said that he could see "no strong reason" to reject the proposal, which differed from the previous application by making it only one storey high and reducing the size of the proposed footprint by 10 per cent.

Andrew Perkins, a Bernard Street resident who attended the meeting, said that he was "absolutely gutted" by the outcome and added: "I always knew that the application was most likely going to be granted, but I cannot help but feel disappointed by the decision. There are five houses that border the site and they will all feel the effects of increased traffic and added noise pollution, not to mention an invasion of privacy.