Bluebell Cottage Page 1 ITEM 7 Planning Committee 26Th May 2015
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ITEM 7 Planning Committee 26th May 2015 For further information about this report please contact Sally Rogers Application No : 15/00332/FUL Full Application Location : Bluebell Cottage Broomwood Lane Stock Billericay Ingatestone CM4 9RP Proposal : Retrospective application for summer house Applicant : Dr Sameh Hindi Agent : Miss K Howard Date Valid : 12th March 2015 Target Date : 6th May 2015 List of Contents 1. Executive Summary .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 2. Description of the Site .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 3. Details of the Proposal .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 4. Relevant History .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 5. Planning Considerations .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 6. Conclusions .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 7. Recommendation and Conditions .. .. .. .. .. 6 Appendices Appendix 1 Drawings Appendix 2 Consultations Item 7 – Bluebell Cottage Page 1 1. Executive Summary 1.1. This application has been referred to the Planning Committee because the applicant is a member of the Council. 1.2. The proposal relates to a detached timber and glass building which is located to the north of Bluebell Cottage. The building is used for purposes ‘incidental to enjoyment of the main dwellinghouse’ and is referred to as a summerhouse 1.3. The building is the subject of an enforcement notice, which was upheld at appeal. The appeal did not consider the planning merits of the building, only whether the whole of it needed permission (see para 4.9). 1.4. The building is not insignificant in size and does have an impact on the openness of the Green Belt. That said, it could be re‐erected to the south of the house under permitted development and this is a material consideration. 1.5. If the provision of other outbuildings on the site is strictly controlled by condition then there is justification to retain the existing building. Conditions are proposed which remove permitted development rights for outbuildings and also prevent the separate occupation of the summerhouse unconnected with the main dwelling. The application is recommended for approval. 2. Description of the Site 2.1. The application site is located within the Green Belt. The main dwelling house is a detached timber framed building which is accessed from a private drive off Broomwood Lane, Stock. A public footpath runs across the site east to west, in front of the existing dwelling. 2.2. The site has several metal storage containers located along the western boundary, which were granted a lawful development certificate under application 13/00434/CLEUD. 2.3. The summerhouse is a detached single storey building situated to the north of Bluebell Cottage and is the subject of the current application. 2.4. To the east of the site is a large grass field. 3. Details of the Proposal 3.1. The application seeks retrospective planning permission for the summerhouse. The building is constructed from timber and glass and has an unusual eclectic design. 3.2. The building has seven rooms which are shown on the submitted drawings; three of these are labelled as “wet room, study and wc”. The remaining rooms are not labelled but they contain gym equipment and items ancillary to the main house. 3.3. The labelled photographs that have been submitted as part of the application show the height of the structure from artificial ground levels as the ground was built up around the building after its original construction. Prior to the levels of the land around the Item 7 – Bluebell Cottage Page 2 building being altered, the structure measured at its lowest point (NW corner) 3.04 metres and at its highest point (SE corner) 4.3 metres. The building also sits partially outside of the lawful residential curtilage of the property. 4. Relevant History Lawful Development Certificate 13/00434/CLEUD 4.1. A lawful development certificate for this site was submitted in 2013. The application sought a certificate for the following items a) use of land as residential garden b) use of land for storage of containers c) erection of buildings 4.2. The application for use of land as residential garden referred to two parts of the overall site. The areas to the north and south of the dwelling, which are concurrent with the red line of the current planning application site, were granted a certificate. 4.3. The field to the north and east of the application site was refused a certificate as residential garden. 4.4. A certificate of lawful use was granted for the use of a confined part of the land for the storage of containers (E,F,G H and B, see plan below). 4.5. A certificate was granted for two small buildings along the western boundary of the site (Shown hatched on plan below). Item 7 – Bluebell Cottage Page 3 4.6. A certificate of lawfulness was refused for the summerhouse building because it did not satisfy the relevant criteria of Class E of Schedule 2, Part 1 of the General Permitted Development Order 1995 (as amended). Enforcement Notices and Appeals 4.7. Enforcement notices were served in respect of the unauthorised use of the land as garden and also the unauthorised construction of a building, which is the summerhouse subject of this current application. The requirements of the notice are to demolish the building and to remove from the land all waste materials arising from the demolition. The land must then be reinstated to its former condition as grass. The compliance period for this notice ran until 30th March 2015. When enforcement notices are served, only the planning merits of the scheme without conditions can be considered. In this case it was considered that the unrestricted use of the building in addition to full permitted development rights would have been harmful to the Green Belt. 4.8. The applicant appealed both enforcement notices and a Public Inquiry was held over two days during August and November 2014. Both appeals were dismissed and the notices upheld. 4.9. In the case of the appeal against the enforcement notice on the summerhouse the applicant did not appeal on ground (a), which tests the planning merits of the scheme. Instead, he appealed on the following grounds: (d) That the summerhouse building was in fact two separate buildings and that part of the building (known as A1) had been substantially completed more than 4 years ago and was therefore immune from enforcement action (f) That the requirements of the notice should be varied so that only non‐recyclable waste must be removed (g) That 3 months was not a sufficient time period to be able to carefully dismantle the building 4.10. The Inspector, in determining the appeal was therefore only allowed to consider grounds (d), (f) and (g) in relation to the building. The appeal failed on all three grounds. Planning application 14/00824/FUL 4.11. This application was heard at Planning Committee on 22nd July 2014 prior to the Public Inquiry against the enforcement notices. The application sought permission for the demolition of the existing dwelling, removal of containers used for storage and part of outbuilding (B), construction of replacement dwelling and retrospective application for the summer house (A1/A2). Permission was also sought for a large domestic garage. 4.12. In relation to the summerhouse building, members resolved to approve the application subject to the signing of a legal agreement which removed permitted development rights for outbuildings and prevented the summerhouse building from being used, let or sold as a separate dwelling. Amongst other matters, the legal agreement also required the building to only be used for purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse. The legal agreement was never signed by the applicant’s lenders and permission has not therefore been granted. Item 7 – Bluebell Cottage Page 4 5. Planning Considerations Green Belt – Core Strategy and Development Control Policies Development Plan Document: Policy DC1 5.1. The main issue is whether or not the development is appropriate within the Green Belt and whether it would be harmful to the openness of the Green Belt and wider countryside. 5.2. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and local planning Policy DC1 both seek to restrict the construction of new buildings within the Green Belt to a prescribed list of developments. The construction of ancillary buildings for residential purposes is not one of these developments. That said, the Council takes a pragmatic approach to domestic outbuildings within the Green Belt and modest ancillary buildings are usually considered to be acceptable as incidental structures within a domestic setting. 5.3. In this case, the summerhouse building is large, it has an unusual design and is visually prominent from the adjacent public footpath. There can be no doubt that it has an impact on the character and appearance of the area and also the openness of the Green Belt. 5.4. In considering the acceptability of this building, the fall‐back position of permitted development needs to be considered. The rear of Bluebell Cottage has a large residential curtilage, which lies to the south of the dwelling. Within this area, a similar building could be constructed as permitted development which would probably have a greater impact within the green belt. There is some merit in maintaining the openness of the curtilage to the south of the house by concentrating ancillary buildings in a similar location to the lawful structures to the north. 5.5. Whilst the summerhouse building is a large ancillary structure, it is not unusual for a dwelling house on an extensive plot to be provided with some sort of ancillary building, for example, a summerhouse, gym, garage or study. There was also previously a smaller summerhouse in a similar position on the site, although there is no planning history for it. These types of buildings can usually be constructed as permitted development.