New Forest District Council: Jess Glover is pleased to inform that she has secured planning permission for the erection of a mezzanine level to create additional storage and ancillary office/staff areas at a unit in the Hoburne Enterprise Park in Ringwood.

The site comprises an industrial unit in a B2/B8 Use Class on a relatively new business park in Ringwood. The client approached Pure Town Planning as they were hoping to add a mezzanine floor within the unit to create additional space for storage and also ancillary office and staff areas

Planning permission is not typically required for a mezzanine within industrial units, however a planning condition relating to the approved application for the business park removed rights specifically to create additional mezzanine areas or first floor floorspace. As such, planning permission was required.

The layout of the approved mezzanine provides a waiting area, staff breakout area, 2no. training rooms and a meeting room. Additionally, the other half of the mezzanine provides a storage area with shelving units.

In our supporting statement, we justified that the proposed development would not alter the building externally, however would improve the functionality of the space. Furthermore, the initial condition precluding mezzanines was imposed to avoid pressure on on-street parking, as such we justified that the proposal would not increase the number of employees at the site, providing additional storage space and ancillary staff breakout and office areas to cater for existing staff at the site and improve their facilities. As such, the proposal was not considered to impact upon on-street parking pressure.

The Case Officer agreed that the proposal would be in keeping with the character and appearance of the area and would not impact upon parking in the area, recommending the application for approval under delegated powers. If you would like a professional planning consultancy to assess the planning potential of your site then why not give us a call on 01202 585524 or email to info@puretownplanning.co.uk for a free of charge planning appraisal.