Councillors are set to rule on whether one of their fellow councillor’s house extension should be granted planning permission.
Ejaz Ahmed, a Slough Borough councillor and member of its leading cabinet committee, received planning permission for extensions to his home in Wexham in 2018 and 2019. This was before he became a councillor in 2023.
But the extension turned out to be different to the plans approved, including an outhouse not in the original scheme, leading the council to issue an enforcement notice.
Now, cllr Ahmed has applied for retrospective approval. This would normally be decided on by Slough Borough Council planning officers. But as the applicant is a councillor it has been submitted to its planning committee.
Cllr Ahmed told the Observer the changes occurred during delays to the construction.
He said: “I did my extension before I got into politics here. It took longer than I expected. For various reasons I decided to do it in parts mainly because of finances.”
A planning officer’s report says the design of the porch has been changed from a pitched roof to a gable end roof and has been reduced in width, but that a rear outbuilding was not included in original plans.
Planning officers say they acknowledge that the original planning permission has been breached but ‘this does not prevent an applicant from applying for retrospective planning permission’.
They say the new application ‘seeks to regularise the breaches’ and are recommending that councillors vote to approve it on Wednesday October 23.
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