AN application to create a car parking bay to help the family of a severely disabled child was given the thumbs down by West Devon Council?s planning committee on Tuesday.
Councillors were told the family wished to create the parking bay directly in front of a listed thatched cottage within the Sampford Courtenay conservation area.
The bay would allow the family to park their car off the highway, making it easier to move their child into and out of a wheelchair.
Although there were no objections from the highways authority, the parish council or other agencies, the borough?s conservation officer said the proposal would be detrimental to the appearance of the conservation area, particularly if repeated elsewhere in the village.
John Milverton, planning officer, said although the council had sympathy for the family concerned, the council had a duty to preserve the appearance of the listed buildings and conservation area.
Cllr Jayne Hill asked if permission could be granted temporarily, while the parking bay was necessary to help the disabled youngster.
But planning services manager Jane Green said it would be ?extremely difficult? to achieve such a consent.
Cllr Roger Mathew, committee chairman, said the application was ?a matter of convenience, complicated by the personal circumstances of the applicant?.
He said to grant consent would be like ?driving a coach and horses? through the notion of maintaining the country lane aspect of the conservation area.