New Forest District Council: Matt is pleased to share the news that two permissions have been granted at the same site in Lymington to allow the conversion of the building from commercial (Use Class E) to six flats (Use Class C3). The first was Prior Approval under permitted development Class MA for the change of use – a class which allows no external changes. So the second planning permisison was for external changes only comprising the reconfiguration of fenestration and doors and associated external alterations; installation of a new front portico; change from brick to rendered and stucco facades. The scheme was designed by local firm ARC Architecture for mutual client Brentor Property Group.
Part of the ground floor of the building is currently within Class E use as a dental practice (previously considered to be Class D1). The first and second storeys are now vacant but were previously in use as offices Class E, (previously B1 office use). The site is located within the built-up area of Lymington, within the Town Centre Boundary and immediately adjacent to the Lymington Conservation Area.
Class MA was introduced on 1st August 2021 and significantly widened the scope of changes of use to residential, so as to apply to all uses now falling within Class E. Class E comprises a broad range of uses originally within former use classes A1 (retail), A2 (professional services), A3 (cafes/restaurants), B1 (offices and light industrial) and parts of D1 and D2 (medical uses, day nurseries, indoor sports etc). The restrictive conditions set out in previous classes of prior approval have also been significantly relaxed, allowing greater floor areas and numbers of units, as well as allowing schemes within Conservation Areas (though not Listed Buildings). Permitted Development Rights under Class MA require applicants to submit an application for prior approval to the Council with supporting plans to allow the Council 0o assess the application against such matters as Transport and Highways, Contamination, Flood Risk, natural light to all habitable rooms and impacts upon nearby businesses.
The officer reviewed the submitted plans and our supporting Planning Statement and confirmed that the proposal satisfies the requirements of Class MA for the change of use of the property from Class E offices and dental practice to residential units within Use Class C3. As such, the Council approved the prior approval within 58 days.
Under the Class MA prior approval no external changes can be made, so at the same time we also submitted an application to reconfigure the fenestration and doors, install a new front portico, change the external materials from brick to render and stucco facades and raise the height of the rear to the same height as the main part of the building by 0.4 metres.
As can be seen from the CGI – These changes to the building would transform its appearance quite significantly. The officer concluded that these alterations would result in a better proportioned and more elegant building. The sash windows and new portico would present a strong front elevation to the street, and would give the building a more traditional overall appearance that would be appropriate to its historic context. The proposed change of materials would help lift a building that has a tired appearance and in a way that would be sympathetic to the site’s context. Arriving at her favourable recommendation the appointed planning officer concluded that a more traditional external treatment to the building would be a positive visual change in terms of how the building impacts on the adjacent Conservation Area.
Whilst the same outcome could have been achieved by a single full application process, the advantages of submitting two applications (one being an MA prior approval) are reduced planning application fees, a quicker timescale for determination with less risk (in our view) of a refusal for subjective reasons (either by planning officer or planning committee).