Planning Permission Secured For Corner Plot Dwelling In Staffordshire.

Berrys were approached by our client to secure planning permission following a refusal having used a different consultancy.

The refusal consisted of two reasons:

• The proposed detached dormer bungalow by reason of its awkward siting close to the north western boundary of the site and loss of an open green space on a prominent corner plot would appear as an incongruous and discordant feature within the locality. This would consequently result in the proposed detached dormer bungalow forming an uncharacteristically cramped form of development in the immediate locality which would result in undue harm to the character of the Crab Lane and Shelmore Close street scenes. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policy N1 (g) and (h) of The Plan for Stafford Borough.
• The application site, by reason of its close proximity to 99 Crab Lane and 2 Shelmore Close on a corner plot cannot achieve a layout that would not result in an unacceptable level of overlooking and loss of privacy and direct outlook to principal windows on the adjacent neighbouring dwellings. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policy N1 (e) of The Plan for Stafford Borough.

On the face of it such a refusal would appear to be unsurmountable with problems relating to loss of open green space, incongruous feature with the locality, cramped form of development, harm to the character of the area and unacceptable levels of overlooking and loss or privacy to the neighbouring properties.

How We Approached The Project

Berrys firstly conducted a site visit to the land and the adjacent property in the client’s ownership to assess the overall street scene of the locality and the potential overlooking concerns raised by the Local Planning Authority.

Whilst on-site Berrys advised the client to change one of the windows to frosted glass and to move the fencing to address any overlooking and space issues.

Following the site visit Berrys liaised with the instructed Architect to alter the plans moving both the front and side elevations to be in line with the building lines of both intersecting roads. Additionally, some alterations to the dwelling were advised, specifically the removal of the external chimney stack, which was out of character, as well as removing the colours from the drawings which suggested a grey render which would not be in keeping with the street scene. It was also requested that the rear window was marked as ‘obscured’ to avoid any overlooking. The dwelling was also moved within the plot to meet the required distances from neighbouring dwelling’s habitable rooms.

By conducting the above and carefully aligning the dwelling with the character of the area and technical requirements this left the issue of open green space. To address this, deep research was conducted into the planning history of the adjacent dwellings as well as the Local Plan Policy to prove that this was never allocated to be Public Open Space or designated as Open Green Space.

How We Achieved The Project

All of the above was then evidenced in the supporting Planning Statement and submitted to the Local Planning Authority.

Berrys carefully liaised with the Case Officer and monitored the application to ensure that the process proceeded smoothly, and the application was successfully approved with no further revisions.

This demonstrates how strategic thinking and a methodical thought process can be the difference between a refusal and an approval, showing the real value of using an experienced Planning Consultant.