Plans for house on former chapel site refused due to parking and noise concerns, says council planning department.

PLANS for a three-bedroom house on the site of a Methodist Chapel have been refused due to concerns over parking and noise. 
Alan Wall of developers the Handy Bee had wanted outline planning permission for the three-bedroom detached home in a site that forms part of the curtilage of the Snatchwood Methodist Chapel, on Snatchwood Road in Abersychan, Pontypool. 
Mr Wall was granted permission to convert the former chapel, which dates back to 1880, into a four-bedroom house in September last year. 
The site is accessed from the road by steps built into a natural stone wall, with railings. The gated pedestrian entrance has natural stone pillars either side but is currently strewn with rubble, while a timber fence now seperates it from the chapel.
Torfaen Borough Council’s planning department said Mr Wall needed to put in a noise impact assessment report with his outline application as the area has been identified as a Noise Action Plan Priority Area by the Welsh Government. 
Mr Wall said he hoped to be able to put the report in latter stage when other details of the proposed house would be considered for approval. However planning officer Tom Braithwaite said the report was needed to determine if development in the area would be acceptable and whether physical measures to limit noise, such as acoustic barriers, would change the character and appearance of the site. 
Planners also had concerns that no parking was provided, saying its standards would require three parking spaces, and that no access was shown from the rear of the property while there are double yellow lines at the front on Snatchwood Road. 
It was feared any plan to create off-street parking and a turning area would result in the natural stone wall and the pillars at the entrance being lost. 
As a result the outline application was refused due to a lack of parking provision and no noise impact report having been submitted. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​