Agenda item

The Strategic Applications Manager delivered the report. 

The Chair thanked the officer and then invited John Doyle to speak against the proposal.

John Doyle stated that, if this application went ahead, his property would suffer a loss of day light and privacy, in particular to the dining room and a bedroom, each of which only had a single window.  He said that he did not believe the guidelines correctly represented the actual reality of day light.  He pointed out that no access to his property had been requested during the survey and that the build would result in inadequate light for normal activities and artificial light would be required even in the day time.  Furthermore he was concerned that the proposed courtyard garden gave a view directly in to a bedroom.

The Chair thanked him and invited the Strategic Applications Manager to address some of these points.

The Strategic Applications Manager stated that the situation was unusual. The judgement of what was considered a reasonable impact could only be made from the survey but it was subjective.  She reiterated that the previous application was deemed inappropriate and had been refused. The applicant had then reduced the size of the proposal, which was now considered to be reasonable and was at a lower level.  The fencing should provide some privacy protection.

The Chair thanked the officer and invited Councillor Kennedy Rodrigues, a ward councillor, to speak about the proposal.

Councillor Rodrigues objected to the proposal for three reasons.  Firstly he stated that the property did not meet the local needs of the area.  Secondly, under Human rights legislation, the neighbours at numbers 61 and 69 had a right to light. The proposal had a minimum distance of 33cm from the boundary fence and that the new shading would have a detrimental effect on the greenhouse in the neighbouring property.  Finally, he commented that the construction of a dropped kerb had not been approved and therefore there was currently no safe access to the site.

The Chair thanked the councillor and again invited the Strategic Applications Manager to address these concerns.

The Strategic Applications Manager stated that in relation to the housing needs of the area, one bed properties were needed; a mix of dwellings was needed in Watford.  She reiterated that the previous application had been rejected due to the lighting impact; the impact was now considered minimal due to the length of the garden overall.  She stated that the dropped kerb would be a matter for county to consider; it was not a planning matter, therefore consent and management from county was needed.

The Chair invited the committee to discuss the proposal.

The committee commented on the merits and concerns about the development.  There was a question in relation to tree conservation that was answered by the Strategic Applications Manager.  Whilst there were concerns about the light impact, in particular on the greenhouse, this was not deemed a strong enough reason to refuse the application.

         RESOLVED –

         That planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions:

        Conditions

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

2.           Approved Drawings and Documents

The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved drawings and documents:

008-SO1_P11 Existing Site Plan

008-SO2_P11 Proposed Site Plan

008-EXGARF_P11 Existing Roof Level Plan

008-EXGS01_P11 Existing Cross Section

008-GA00_P11 Proposed Ground Floor

008-GARF_P11 Proposed Roof Plan 

008-GE01_P11 Proposed Elevations (Front and Rear)

008-GE02_P11 Proposed Elevations (Sides)

008-GS01_P11 Proposed Cross Sections

3.           Materials

No development shall commence until details and samples of the materials to be used for all the external finishes of the development hereby approved, including all external walls, all roofs, doors, windows, fascias, rainwater and foul drainage goods, have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details and samples.

4.           Tree protection

No development on site shall commence until details and a method statement in respect of tree protection measures (including ground protection) relating to trees located within and adjacent to the site have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The tree protection measures approved under this condition shall be implemented prior to the commencement of any works and shall be maintained as such at all times whilst the construction works take place.

5.           Car Parking

No part of the development shall be occupied until the car parking area has been installed as shown in the approved drawings and has been made available for use.

6.           Bin storage

No part of the development shall be occupied until the refuse and recycling facilities shown on the approved drawings and in the Design and Access Statement have been constructed and made available for use. These facilities shall be retained as approved at all times.

7.           Hard and Soft Landscaping

No part of the development shall be occupied until full details of both hard and soft landscaping works, including details of all existing trees to be retained, trees and soft landscaping to be planted, details of any changes to ground levels around the building, all pathways, all hard surfacing, amenity areas/paving and boundary treatments, have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The approved landscaping scheme, with the exception of the planting, shall be completed prior to any occupation of the development. Any proposed planting shall be completed not later than the first available planting and seeding season after completion of the development. Any new trees or plants 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.

8.           Bicycle Storage

No part of the development shall be occupied until details of the size, type, siting and finish of a cycle storage enclosure for the dwelling has been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. The storage approved under this condition shall be installed and made available for use prior to the occupation of any part of the development and shall be retained at all times for cycle storage only and shall not be used for any other purpose.

9.           Permitted Development rights removed

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