A THURROCK care home which hoped to build a new day room for residents has had its planning application rejected.

Carolyne House in Waterson Road, Chadwell St Mary had hoped to build a single-storey extension to the front of the building to provide more room for elderly residents.

However, Thurrock Council has rejected the application for a 4.5 metre by 7.7 metre extension would be "an alien feature in the street scene which would be harmful and contrary to policies".

The council said the principle of development in care homes such as this provide "valuable accommodation for special needs grounds and the elderly and the council is supportive of proposals to improve accommodation for these groups".

Planning officers said the existing building is of a simple design, with regular window proportions and ground floor door openings and regularly spaced gable features.

Although of no specific character, the regular proportions and set back from the highway mean that the building is "well related to the street scene and unobtrusive".

However, in a report on a decision to refuse the application, officers said: "The proposed extension is very rudimental in design of the type that would typically be found on the private side of a single domestic dwelling. The design and appearance of the extension has no regard for the existing building.

"The expanse of windows and flat roof with very prominent eaves would make the extension very poorly related to the existing building. There appears to have been no attempt to design the extension, merely to provide a solution to enable more internal space with no regard for the extension itself, the building or the wider area."

The report adds: "By reason of its design, appearance, flat roof, proliferation of glazing and location on the exposed front facing side of the building the extension fails to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the host building or its context.

"The proposal contains inaccurate detail about the floorspace of the extension. At this time the council cannot be satisfied that the proposal would made adequate provision for biodiversity on the site."