Plans to build a new bungalow in a village near in the Forest of Dean have been given the go-ahead.

Abigail Smith and Gary McCreery have been granted permission to build the new home on land next to Rosemary Cottage in Hartpury.

Forest of Dean District Council recommended approving the proposals despite the site lying outside the village’s boundary and what is deemed open countryside.

However, they said the benefits of granting permission for the bungalow which is designed to have an open plan kitchen/dining room, snug, two bedrooms and a bathroom outweighed the negatives.

The layout has been designed to meet the specific living requirements of Mr McCreery, who suffers from progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).

Ms Smith spoke at the development management committee on April 8 said she hoped councillors would “see the people behind these plans” and grant permission.

“My family have lived here for three generations and today I am speaking not just as an applicant but as a mother, partner and carer,” she said.

“My partner Gary and I are applying to build a modest single storey home on a plot immediately adjacent to my father and sister.

“It’s not a grand design. It is carefully thought through a self built home. The bungalow has been designed with Gary’s current and future needs at its core. He lives with advanced multiple sclerosis and is now severely disabled and reliant on a wheelchair or scooter.

“I hope you will see the people behind these plans,” she said. “While we are making do in temporary accommodation, we are already relieved tot be close to immediate family who help us on a daily basis.

“Looking forward we are asking for the opportunity to live safely, close to those who support us so that Gary can live with dignity and more readily engage in family life and as a father.

Councillor Philip Burford (I, Hartpury and Redmarley), who represents the area on the District Council, said the proposals warranted “good consideration and permission”.

“It’s important to say this is one of those cases where we as councillors have to look just a little bit beyond the letter of the law and the rules as laid out in legislation,” he said.

“This is a case where we need to show a little humanity. What we have here is a long established Hartpury family, Abigail’s father was the milkman in the village for many many years before he retired.

“He is one of the great characters of Hartpury. Victor or Vic as he is known was one of the main contributors to the effors to build a new village hall a few years ago.

“It’s a great sadness really for all the homes that are being imposed on the village of Hartpury none are really suitable for this family to move into because of their special needs.

“Therefore a self build near the family in the little bit of the village that Vic has occupied for longer than I can remember This is doing what we as councillors should do. Which is help people who have helped others.