Erection of 3 dwellings with access, parking, landscaping and associated works

The committee received the report of the Head of Development Management, including the relevant planning history of the site and details of the responses to the application. 

The Development Management Team Leader (PB) introduced the report explaining that the application proposed the erection of 3 dwellings with access, parking, landscaping and associated works.

Attention was drawn to the update sheet which included details of some additional representations and a local petition which had been submitted after publication of the officer’s report. 

It was noted that an appeal date had been received by Watford Borough Council for the previous scheme on this site, which had been refused by the committee on 6 September 2017.

The Chair invited Stephen Clarke, a local resident, to speak against the application.  Mr Clarke commented that the current scheme did not overcome the objections of local residents.  They were not against development per se, but considered this application would do little to alleviate housing need and would have a harmful impact on the Oxhey conservation area.

Local residents were concerned about the visual dominance and impact on the street scene of the proposed properties, despite alterations in the design to, inter alia, the roof height and the brickwork.  In addition, the distances between the proposed properties and existing houses in Lower Paddock Road were too close and had been misrepresented in the developer’s CGIs.

Local residents considered that granting planning permission would set an unwelcome precedent, exacerbating existing demands from developers for land to progress further inappropriate schemes in the conservation area.  They also questioned the logic of refusing some external small scale home improvements by local residents against the significant development represented by the current application.

The Chair invited Charlotte Hutchison from Iceni projects to speak to the committee.  Speaking on behalf of the applicant, Ms Hutchison advised that the developer had responded positively to the committee’s reasons for refusal on the previous application for this site in September 2017.  As a consequence, there had been a reduction in the ridge and eaves height and in the number of storeys.  The houses had also been redesigned to maintain a contemporary feel whilst adopting a more traditional appearance, in keeping with the views of local people.

Ms Hutchison acknowledged the strength of local opinion, but reminded the committee that no objections had been received from the statutory and technical consultees.

The committee agreed that Oxhey Ward Councillor Peter Taylor could address the meeting.  Councillor Taylor commented that the overwhelming majority of responses to the application had objected to the proposed scheme.  Citing the saved Policies U18 and U19 of the Watford District Plan 2000, Councillor Taylor suggested that the development would have an unacceptably harmful effect on the Oxhey conservation area.  Objections to the cramped development included its design, closeness to adjacent dwellings on Lower Paddock Road and the lack of private amenity space in non-compliant gardens.

Picking up the theme of the council’s refusal to permit some external small scale improvements to properties in the conservation area, Councillor Taylor questioned whether the reasons behind this type of refusal i.e., that further cumulative replications would have the effect of harming the conservation area, could not also be applied to the current application since its approval would give a green light to developers seeking to achieve similar schemes locally.

The Chair thanked the speakers and invited comments from the committee.

Members of the committee accepted that there was no rule forbidding back garden development and that steps had been taken to address the previous reasons for refusal.  In particular, it was noted that significant changes had been made to reduce the number of storeys, to remove the large picture windows at first floor level and to address the expanse of blank brickwork in the original proposal.

Despite changes to the design, there was some debate amongst committee members as to whether the current proposal could be considered an appropriate form of development.  Some members considered that, whilst changes had been made to address the previous reasons for refusal, specifically its height and bulk, the design of current application would still have a harmful impact on the conservation area.

Other members of the committee argued that all the previous reasons for refusal had been overcome in the current proposal.  Design was a subjective issue and had been improved in this scheme.  The proposed properties were now subservient to the existing houses and, as a consequence, would be less obvious from Lower Paddock Road.  As such it could not be argued that there would be a harmful impact on the conservation area.

The Chair moved the officer’s recommendation.

RESOLVED –

that planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions:

1.         The development to which this permission relates shall be begun within a period of three years commencing on the date of this permission.

2.         The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved drawings:-

            1639-A PL-02-003E, 004E, 005E, 006E

            1639-A-PL-04-003E, 004E

3.         Prior to commencement of the development, 1 dusk emergence/dawn re-retry survey of building B1 and trees T1 and T2 (as identified in the 2017 Bat Roost Assessment) should be undertaken between May - August (inclusive), to determine whether bats are roosting and will be affected by the proposals. If bats are found to be roosting, no development shall commence until an amended outline mitigation strategy has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. Thereafter the development shall be carried out in accordance with these approved details and within the constraints of any relevant European Protected Species licence.

4.         No removal of trees, scrub or hedges shall be carried out on the site between 1st March and 31st August in any year unless a suitably qualified ecologist has previously searched the trees, scrub or hedges and certified in writing to the Local Planning Authority that such works of removal may proceed.

5.         No development shall commence until details of the external materials to be used for the development (both the retained dwellings at nos. 4 and 6, Lower Paddock Road and the new dwellings) have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be carried out only in accordance with the approved materials.

6.         No development shall commence until details of the tree protection measures to be installed to protect the retained trees numbered 1, 6, 7, 8 and 9 on drawing no. SPH/SN/5837-01/10.05 (Tree Surveys) as shown on approved drawing no. 1639-A-PL-02-003E, have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. No materials, vehicles, fuel or any other items shall be stored or buildings erected or works carried out inside this fencing and no changes in ground level shall be made within the spread of any tree without the prior written approval of the Local Planning Authority. These measures shall be retained as approved at all times during the development works.

7.         No dwelling (including the retained dwellings at nos. 4 and 6, Lower Paddock Road) shall be occupied until the following works have been carried out in full:

i)          The construction of the modified access junction to Lower Paddock Road and the internal access road as shown on drawing no. 1639-A-PL-02-003E;

ii)         The construction of the 10 car parking spaces (numbered 02-11) as shown on drawing no. 1639-A-PL-02-003E;

iii)        The construction of the communal bin store as shown on drawing no. 1639-A-PL-02-003E.

8.         No dwelling (including the retained dwellings at nos. 4 and 6, Lower Paddock Road) shall be occupied until a detailed hard landscaping scheme for the site, including details of all site boundary treatments and external lighting, has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority, and the works have been carried out in accordance with the approved details. The detailed scheme shall be based upon approved drawing no. 1639-A-PL-02-003E.

9.         No dwelling (including the retained dwellings at nos. 4 and 6, Lower Paddock Road) shall be occupied until a detailed soft landscaping scheme for the site has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The detailed scheme shall be based upon approved drawing no. 1639-A-PL-02-003E. The approved soft landscaping scheme shall be carried out not later than the first available planting and seeding season after completion of development. Any trees or plants whether new or existing which within a period of five years die, are removed or become seriously damaged or diseased shall be replaced in the next planting season with others of similar size and species, or in accordance with details approved by the Local Planning Authority.

10.       Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 3 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015, as amended (or any modifications or re-enactment thereof), no development permitted under Schedule 2, Part 1, Classes A, B, C, D, E and G of the Order shall be carried out to the dwellings hereby approved without the prior written permission of the Local Planning Authority.