Plans for flat with no natural daylight refused

Plans for a basement flat where natural daylight would be "virtually non-existent" have been refused by Bradford Council.

Proposals to convert the basement of 75 Westgate in Bradford into a single flat were submitted last year.

The property lies within the Goitside Conservation Area and is a former music shop that has most recently been used as a political campaign office.

The application by M Shabir, for the basement to be converted into a one-bed flat, was refused as planning officers raised concerns that it would not provide a good quality of life for future residents.

The main change to the basement to allow the conversion into a flat would be the creation of two windows, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, planners pointed out that these windows would be underground.

There is currently no lightwell where the windows would be located and the plans seem to make no mention of any proposals to dig down to create a space for light to enter.

The rear of the building, where the windows would be located, looks out onto a space regularly used for parking.

Council planners said: "The result would be a new dwelling with extremely limited, if any natural daylight.

"This would form a poor standard of accommodation for future occupants, would result in clear and significant harm to residential amenity."

Refusing the application, they added: "Given surrounding physical constraints and land ownership of the applicant, the final attainment of natural daylight would in effect be largely non-existent.

"The proposal would thus result in significant harm to residential amenity, and a very poor standard of accommodation for future occupants."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.