BCP Council (Bournemouth): Pure Town Planning has won another appeal against BCP Council and secured full planning permission to sever an existing plot and erect a detached dwelling at Knole Gardens, Bournemouth
The appeal site comprises a vacant plot of land which lies between Nos. 7 and 8 Knole Gardens. It was previously part of the curtilage of No. 7, but was severed many years ago and the land has remained undeveloped ever since.
The site has a detailed planning history including a failed attempt at securing permission for residential development in 2008. That scheme was dismissed at appeal by the Planning Inspectorate and the LPA relied heavily upon the Inspector’s decision from 2008 to justify their position that the site was not suitable for any form of residential development.
We fundamentally disagreed with the LPA’s stance and felt that the new application should be have been considered afresh by the LPA based on its own merits given the very different policy context (NPPF titled balance and the national policy direction to use land efficiently in urban areas), the changed physical context (alterations to neighbouring dwellings) and the fact that proposed dwelling, which was designed by JOLP, would be notably different (smaller) to the 2008 appeal proposal.
We strongly refuted the LPA’s assessment of the proposal that the new dwelling would cause harm to the character and appearance of the area and we put forward a robust justification in favour of the proposed development within our statement of case.
We further reasoned that if the Inspector were to find harm, that the level of harm would not be substantial – indeed it would be very limited and would not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the proposal. Therefore, if the tilted balance is applied (due to BCP Council’s lack of housing land supply), the proposal ought to be approved.
In assessing the proposal’s impact upon the character and appearance of the area, the Inspector found moderate harm due to the citing of the new bungalow behind the established building line of the neighbouring dwellings. However, she went onto engage the titled balance and granted planning permission for the development, concluding in her decision:
“The proposal would represent a small infill plot within a settlement boundary, gaining support from paragraph 73(d) of the Framework. Furthermore, the proposal would help boost the supply of housing as promoted under the Framework, albeit that a single unit would make only a modest contribution in these respects. The scheme would also provide a self-build unit, promoted by the Framework in seeking housing for “people who wish to commission or build their own home”. There would also be limited benefits in terms of the generation of construction employment and support from future occupiers to local services.
The Proposal would cause moderate harm to the character and appearance of the area, an objective sought by paragraph 135(c) which requires development to be sympathetic to local character.
The several benefits of the scheme attract significant weight overall. Against this, the identified modest harm in respect of character and appearance only attracts moderate weight. Therefore, I find the adverse impacts of the proposal would not significantly and demonstrably outweigh its benefits when assessed against the Framework. The presumption in favour of sustainable development as set out at paragraph 11 of the Framework would therefore apply.”
In our opinion, this the correct use of the tilted balance and emphasises that the benefits of providing housing of any volume should be afforded significant weight in the planning balance. All to often we find that LPA’s are dismissive of the benefits of small housing schemes and this decision shows that this should not be the case. Every housing development counts towards the LPA targets and should be afforded significant weight!
Our client was understandably delighted with the appeal decision and they are looking forward to bringing forward the development in the near future.
If you have recently been refused planning permission and would like to know whether it is worth appealing, then why not call Pure Town Planning on 01202 585524 or email info@puretownplanning.co.uk to see how we can help you.