A BID to build three new homes in Althorne has been thrown out by a council.

Plans were submitted to change the use of three barns on The Endway, Althorne, so they could be converted into three houses, with a new link to a boiler room, garden extensions and shed conversions to garages.

The application went before Maldon District Council, which has refused it on multiple grounds.

The council stated that the site lies outside settlement boundaries and was not identified as a location requiring development and therefore would damage the character and intrinsic beauty of the countryside.

The council also stated that the development would provide an unacceptable level of on-site car parking in an unsustainable location, which could potentially lead to an increased demand for parking off-site.

The council added: “The development results in family accommodation. The private amenity space provided is substantially short of that required and is considered to result in an amenity space provision that would fail to be adequate in meeting the needs of current and future occupiers of the site, to the detriment of their amenity and standard of accommodation.”