Ed Sheeran appealing against block on parking lodge plans

Ed Sheeran is appealing after local council officials rejected his plans for a parking lodge at his home in Suffolk, England.

The Thinking Out Loud singer, 25, submitted an application for work to improve the parking facilities at his house in his hometown of Framlingham.

According to the East Anglian Daily Times newspaper, Suffolk Coastal District Council (SCDC) officials refused his application to build a one-and-a-half storey cart lodge and extra car parking spaces despite neighbors raising no objections.

Suffolk planning chiefs reportedly did so on the grounds that the development represented, "creeping domestication and would have an adverse impact on the character and appearance of the countryside".

In an appeal document submitted to Britain's Planning Inspectorate, Ed's agent Laurie McGee explained that the new building was to replace a cart lodge which had been demolished to make way for an indoor swimming pool.

Citing plans previously approved for a tree house, pod, orangery, decking and Jacuzzi on the property, which is a farmhouse listed by Britain's government for architectural preservation, Laurie wrote, "One can conclude that they were found not to affect the setting of the Grade II listed farmhouse. I submit that the same should apply here, especially where the design of the cart lodge is more traditional than for example the pod or tree house on site."

Rejecting Ed's plans for a five meter tall building, SCDC case officer Anita Kittle said in a report that the cart lodge "would be an incongruous feature in the countryside".

She explained that although council planning bosses had held discussions on changing its location, no alternative site was offered.

The Planning Inspectorate will decide on the appeal after the deadline for final submissions next Wednesday (04Jan16).

2017 is likely to be a busy year for the British tunesmith, with a new album, his first since 2014, thought to be scheduled for release.