We secured planning permission for a new dwelling behind a row of houses, despite a previous application being refused and dismissed at appeal.

The Brief

Our clients were referred to us after they had a previous application for a new three-bedroom dwelling on a backland site refused by Wiltshire Council. To make matters worse, the scheme was subsequently dismissed at Appeal and after revising their plans to overcome the previous refusal, the clients continued to receive negative pre-application from the Local Planning Authority. Consequently, we were instructed to find a way of gaining planning permission for a new dwelling on their site and to maximise the value of their land.

Our Solution

Our first point of call was to examine the reasons for refusal, the appeal decision and pre-application advice. Within the pre-application advice, it became apparent that the Council had misinterpreted the Inspector’s arguments. The Inspector did not state that the principle of development was unacceptable due to its backland location. Rather, it was the combination of the proposed dwelling’s size, massing, siting and layout which resulted in an inappropriate form of development.

Given these findings, the pre-application advice could be discounted. We advised the Architect to revise the design, reducing the scale of the dwelling so that it was single storey and positioned in such way that would reduce its impact on the character and appearance of the area. Atlas Planning Group prepared a robust Planning Statement, which identified the key arguments within the appeal decision. The proposed development was compared against the findings of the Inspector and demonstrated how the proposal should have no significantly harmful impacts.

 

Owing to the dwelling’s location behind the existing buildings fronting the road, the proposed new dwelling would not have a significant influence on the character and appearance of the street scene. Atlas Planning Group used their database of appeal decisions to find precedents, which stated that, because the development had a limited visual effect, it did not harm the character and appearance of the area.

Project Success

The application was subsequently submitted to the Council and all previous consultees, which had provided a response within the pre-application, retracted their objections. The Planning Officer accepted our arguments and approved the new dwelling without delay within the 8-week planning application period. The client was extremely happy, particularly after having two subsequent refusals.