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Planning Appeals Your Ref: 20/00113/ENF Wiltshire Council Our Ref: APP/Y3940/C/20/3263613 Monkton Park Office Further appeal references at foot of letter Chippenham Wiltshire SN5 1ER
17 February 2021
Dear Sir/Madam,
Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Appeals by Mr Ravinder Hunjan Site Addresses: Peacock house, 125 Beanacre Road, Beanacre Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 7PU and Peacock House, 125 Beanacre Road, Beanacre
If you have any comments on the points raised, please send them to me by 10 March 2021. You should comment solely on the representations enclosed with this letter.
You cannot introduce new material or put forward arguments that should have been included in your earlier statement. If you do, your comments will not be accepted and will be returned to you.
Using e-mail and the internet
You can now use the internet to send us documents and check the information and the progress of this case at (https://www.gov.uk/appeal-planning-inspectorate). You can look at this case by typing in the above reference number where it says 'Case Ref' on the 'Search' page and clicking on the search button.
Late Representations
Comments submitted after the 9 week deadline will not be seen by the Inspector and will be returned to you, unless there are extraordinary circumstances for the late submission.
Yours sincerely,
Ben White Ben White
Where applicable, you can use the internet to submit documents, to see information and to check the progress of cases through GOV.UK. The address of the search page is - https://www.gov.uk/appeal-planning- inspectorate
Linked cases: APP/Y3940/W/20/3263140 Planning Inspectorate Peacock House The Square 125 Beanacre Road Temple Quay Beanacre Room 3O/P Melksham Temple Quay House Wiltshire Bristol SN12 7PU BS1 6PN
14th February 2021
Planning Inspectorate: APP/Y3940/C/20/3263613: Peacock house, SN12 7PU
Dear Sir/Madam
Please find herewith the response containing additional evidence and points outlining the recent email received from the Council entitled: PLANNING APPEALS - 20/02092/FUL & 20/00133/ENF - Peacock House, Beanacre Road, Melksham dated 18th January 2021.
We await a copy of the LPA’s most recent statement and will respond accordingly.
Yours faithfully
Ravinder and Caroline Hunjan Response to Council’s claim and basis of the refusal and enforcement notice: i.
The building material seen on the site by the Parish Council’s members is due to the fact there is ongoing construction work on site due to the necessity of accommodating a family member with registered disability.
Over the course of 7 years Peacock house has been undergoing internal renovations with the majority of the building material deliveries being made on the southern end of the site. This information can be verified with Wickes(Chippenham), Buildbase(Melksham) and other building material suppliers that are within the locality. In the process of removing/changing features within the property we have retained them for recycled, future use within the other planned developments. The appellant fails to understand how this is deemed to be a builder’s yard when the Council are fully aware of the construction that has already taken place on the site and the ongoing developments.
The following works were being carried out at the time of the application for the container.
If by ‘builder’s yard’ it is implied that the space is used to store building material this is the case due to the ongoing building work at that end of the site and the necessity to store building materials there. However, if it is supposed to imply a commercial interest it is wholly refuted, and the question should be asked upon what grounds this is based on as there is no clarification in this statement and it seems somewhat presumptuous. ii.
We disagree with the email received form the LAP dated 18.01.2021, the REPS attachment contains 5 representation letters however only 4 were displayed during the consultation period on the Council’s website; https://unidoc.wiltshire.gov.uk/UniDoc/Document/Search/DSA,909035
Furthermore, the first and the fifth representation are exact duplicates with different submission dates by the same household. iii.
Name discrepancies that suggest that this case is being confused with that of others.
Mike Willmott’s letter dated 05.01.2021 shows Mr J Hunjan.
Enforcement officer’s delegated report – unsigned and undated correspondence shows Mr Hussain.
iv.
The case officer’s report states that high fences and hedges are not in keeping with the locality and give a harmful visual impact and a commercial appearance. However, such curtilage demarcation is already prominent within the village and the immediate locality of the site in question. It was for this reason that the additional screen would imitate the green vegetation of surrounding hedges that appear above walls/fences to a height of 3+ metres within Beanacre. During consultations with advisors we decided against the use of wooden fencing and instead chose the proposed solution to cover the container from the public’s view. Below are examples of boundaries, within Beanacre, containing hedges/fences which exceed 3 metres in height yet do not portray any commercial or harmful visual impact. The planned use of a screen will be temporary and removed upon completion of all building plans on the site. After consultation it was deemed that the most appropriate and that of least visual impact would be a foliage screen in keeping with the adjacent conifer hedge on the boundary of Peacock House and 125a Beanacre Road. Moreover, it is noted that this pre-existing conifer hedge already exceeds the height of the shipping container.
Below are examples of residential fences/walls with hedges exceeding 3 meters in height in the village of Beanacre ranging from 10 to 100 metres from Peacock house. It is noted that a high proportion of residential boundaries within the village of Beanacre consist of such combinations to minimalize noise pollution and increase privacy along the busy A350 Beanacre Road.
It is clear to see that the suggestion of a commercial visual appearance of high boundary demarcation as suggested is certainly not the case. Furthermore, such ‘fence height’ and proposed material is fully in keeping with the surrounding residential setting.
v. Under no circumstances was it stated that the appellant was under the impression that no planning application would be needed. After undertaking extensive research prior to siting the container the appellant included the container in the planning application with the raised fencing application out of courtesy since all other shipping containers on building sites within Wiltshire have not had any planning applications or any approval granted. This has been confirmed by conversing with personnel within the sites listed within the previous appeal documentation as well as the additional sites marked below.
Yard Lane, Bromham A365 Bath Road, Bowerhill
Crosskeys Road, Corsham vi.
At all stages of the process every endeavour has been made to be mindful of the village location and neighbouring residents with the proposed application. The screening is wholly in keeping with the boundary demarcation of surrounding properties and of the immediate neighbours who overlook the container only a small proportion commented adversely. The appellant believes that such a proposal of screening the container from the outset goes beyond any other instance of containers used as storage facilities on building sites, or otherwise, within Wiltshire. Despite the fact, that all other containers placed on building sites, by private or commercial builders, have sought no planning approval for the siting of temporary storage containers to carry out building and construction works; the appellant still sought the Council’s approval. None of the aforementioned and previously documented sites have incurred an Enforcement Notice. Based upon the numerous examples given of other containers being utilised on building sites within Wiltshire and the extensive use of ‘high fences’ within Beanacre the question has to be asked whether, in fact, discrimination and inequality is being displayed in this case since continuity and consistency of policy does not appear to be demonstrated.
Furthermore, it appears that discrimination allows the siting of a shipping container at St Barnabas Church which has the same level of visual impact within the village and is of a much more permanent nature than the appellants temporary siting. Additional information and evidence to support the appeal
Timeline: 10th January 2020 – Appellant contacted the Development team at Wiltshire Council, via a phone call, to confirm a container will be temporarily situated on site.
24th January 2020 – Appellant contacted the Development team at Wiltshire Council, via a phone call, to clarify whether notice is required for the placement of a container. The advice given by the Council representative was that retrospective planning was sufficient alongside the application to raise the fencing from 1.0m to 2.0m.
30th January 2020 – Container dropped on site by contractors.
14th February 2020 – Application paperwork posted to Wiltshire Council.
2nd March 2020 –Enforcement notice received via post, dated 27th February 2020.
3rd March 2020 – Appellant had a telephone conversation with Natalie Rivans from the enforcement team regarding the issued Enforcement Notice.
4th March 2020 – Appellant scanned copies of the relevant paperwork and Cheque submitted to Natalie Rivans who confirmed that it could be a simple oversight on behalf of the Council as they had experienced severe IT failures throughout the entire month of February.
5th March 2020 – Appellant sent an email to the Development management team to question whether the paperwork had been received.
6th March 2020 – Appellant received a response from the Development management team advising that the paperwork had not previously been received but that it had subsequently been acknowledged on their systems. In addition a request was made to settle the payment since the cheque had not been received.
6th March 2020 – Appellant was unable to get through to the supplied number to settle payments via creditcard. Therefore, a new contact number was requested and subsequently a payment was made through Alison in the Development Management team. At this point Alison confirmed the Council were indeed facing severe IT complications during the entire month of February.
6th March 2020 – Cheque cancelled with Halifax Bank. 6th March 2020 – Appellant sent an email to Enforcement Officer confirming the reference, payment settlement and confirmation provided by the Development management team that they indeed had faced severe IT complications during February.
16th June 2020 – Appellant submitted additional drawings and scale corrections to Karen Dabinett.
23rd June 2020 – Appellant submitted further corrections.
20th August 2020 – Appellant received rejection notice for the submitted planning application.
Proof of emails can be submitted on request, should the Appeals directorate require for further investigation. Planning Inspectorate Peacock House The Square 125 Beanacre Road Temple Quay Beanacre Room 3O/P Melksham Temple Quay House Wiltshire Bristol SN12 7PU BS1 6PN
14th February 2021
Planning Inspectorate: APP/Y3940/C/20/3263613: Peacock house, SN12 7PU
Dear Sir/Madam
Please find herewith the response containing additional evidence and points outlining the recent email received from the Council entitled: PLANNING APPEALS - 20/02092/FUL & 20/00133/ENF - Peacock House, Beanacre Road, Melksham dated 18th January 2021.
We await a copy of the LPA’s most recent statement and will respond accordingly.
Yours faithfully
Ravinder and Caroline Hunjan Response to Council’s claim and basis of the refusal and enforcement notice: i.
The building material seen on the site by the Parish Council’s members is due to the fact there is ongoing construction work on site due to the necessity of accommodating a family member with registered disability.
Over the course of 7 years Peacock house has been undergoing internal renovations with the majority of the building material deliveries being made on the southern end of the site. This information can be verified with Wickes(Chippenham), Buildbase(Melksham) and other building material suppliers that are within the locality. In the process of removing/changing features within the property we have retained them for recycled, future use within the other planned developments. The appellant fails to understand how this is deemed to be a builder’s yard when the Council are fully aware of the construction that has already taken place on the site and the ongoing developments.
The following works were being carried out at the time of the application for the container.
If by ‘builder’s yard’ it is implied that the space is used to store building material this is the case due to the ongoing building work at that end of the site and the necessity to store building materials there. However, if it is supposed to imply a commercial interest it is wholly refuted, and the question should be asked upon what grounds this is based on as there is no clarification in this statement and it seems somewhat presumptuous. ii.
We disagree with the email received form the LAP dated 18.01.2021, the REPS attachment contains 5 representation letters however only 4 were displayed during the consultation period on the Council’s website; https://unidoc.wiltshire.gov.uk/UniDoc/Document/Search/DSA,909035
Furthermore, the first and the fifth representation are exact duplicates with different submission dates by the same household. iii.
Name discrepancies that suggest that this case is being confused with that of others.
Mike Willmott’s letter dated 05.01.2021 shows Mr J Hunjan.
Enforcement officer’s delegated report – unsigned and undated correspondence shows Mr Hussain.
iv.
The case officer’s report states that high fences and hedges are not in keeping with the locality and give a harmful visual impact and a commercial appearance. However, such curtilage demarcation is already prominent within the village and the immediate locality of the site in question. It was for this reason that the additional screen would imitate the green vegetation of surrounding hedges that appear above walls/fences to a height of 3+ metres within Beanacre. During consultations with advisors we decided against the use of wooden fencing and instead chose the proposed solution to cover the container from the public’s view. Below are examples of boundaries, within Beanacre, containing hedges/fences which exceed 3 metres in height yet do not portray any commercial or harmful visual impact. The planned use of a screen will be temporary and removed upon completion of all building plans on the site. After consultation it was deemed that the most appropriate and that of least visual impact would be a foliage screen in keeping with the adjacent conifer hedge on the boundary of Peacock House and 125a Beanacre Road. Moreover, it is noted that this pre-existing conifer hedge already exceeds the height of the shipping container.
Below are examples of residential fences/walls with hedges exceeding 3 meters in height in the village of Beanacre ranging from 10 to 100 metres from Peacock house. It is noted that a high proportion of residential boundaries within the village of Beanacre consist of such combinations to minimalize noise pollution and increase privacy along the busy A350 Beanacre Road.
It is clear to see that the suggestion of a commercial visual appearance of high boundary demarcation as suggested is certainly not the case. Furthermore, such ‘fence height’ and proposed material is fully in keeping with the surrounding residential setting.
v. Under no circumstances was it stated that the appellant was under the impression that no planning application would be needed. After undertaking extensive research prior to siting the container the appellant included the container in the planning application with the raised fencing application out of courtesy since all other shipping containers on building sites within Wiltshire have not had any planning applications or any approval granted. This has been confirmed by conversing with personnel within the sites listed within the previous appeal documentation as well as the additional sites marked below.
Yard Lane, Bromham A365 Bath Road, Bowerhill
Crosskeys Road, Corsham vi.
At all stages of the process every endeavour has been made to be mindful of the village location and neighbouring residents with the proposed application. The screening is wholly in keeping with the boundary demarcation of surrounding properties and of the immediate neighbours who overlook the container only a small proportion commented adversely. The appellant believes that such a proposal of screening the container from the outset goes beyond any other instance of containers used as storage facilities on building sites, or otherwise, within Wiltshire. Despite the fact, that all other containers placed on building sites, by private or commercial builders, have sought no planning approval for the siting of temporary storage containers to carry out building and construction works; the appellant still sought the Council’s approval. None of the aforementioned and previously documented sites have incurred an Enforcement Notice. Based upon the numerous examples given of other containers being utilised on building sites within Wiltshire and the extensive use of ‘high fences’ within Beanacre the question has to be asked whether, in fact, discrimination and inequality is being displayed in this case since continuity and consistency of policy does not appear to be demonstrated.
Furthermore, it appears that discrimination allows the siting of a shipping container at St Barnabas Church which has the same level of visual impact within the village and is of a much more permanent nature than the appellants temporary siting. Additional information and evidence to support the appeal
Timeline: 10th January 2020 – Appellant contacted the Development team at Wiltshire Council, via a phone call, to confirm a container will be temporarily situated on site.
24th January 2020 – Appellant contacted the Development team at Wiltshire Council, via a phone call, to clarify whether notice is required for the placement of a container. The advice given by the Council representative was that retrospective planning was sufficient alongside the application to raise the fencing from 1.0m to 2.0m.
30th January 2020 – Container dropped on site by contractors.
14th February 2020 – Application paperwork posted to Wiltshire Council.
2nd March 2020 –Enforcement notice received via post, dated 27th February 2020.
3rd March 2020 – Appellant had a telephone conversation with Natalie Rivans from the enforcement team regarding the issued Enforcement Notice.
4th March 2020 – Appellant scanned copies of the relevant paperwork and Cheque submitted to Natalie Rivans who confirmed that it could be a simple oversight on behalf of the Council as they had experienced severe IT failures throughout the entire month of February.
5th March 2020 – Appellant sent an email to the Development management team to question whether the paperwork had been received.
6th March 2020 – Appellant received a response from the Development management team advising that the paperwork had not previously been received but that it had subsequently been acknowledged on their systems. In addition a request was made to settle the payment since the cheque had not been received.
6th March 2020 – Appellant was unable to get through to the supplied number to settle payments via creditcard. Therefore, a new contact number was requested and subsequently a payment was made through Alison in the Development Management team. At this point Alison confirmed the Council were indeed facing severe IT complications during the entire month of February.
6th March 2020 – Cheque cancelled with Halifax Bank. 6th March 2020 – Appellant sent an email to Enforcement Officer confirming the reference, payment settlement and confirmation provided by the Development management team that they indeed had faced severe IT complications during February.
16th June 2020 – Appellant submitted additional drawings and scale corrections to Karen Dabinett.
23rd June 2020 – Appellant submitted further corrections.
20th August 2020 – Appellant received rejection notice for the submitted planning application.
Proof of emails can be submitted on request, should the Appeals directorate require for further investigation. From: PlanningAppeals
Please find below third party reps received in respect of the above appeal.
With best regards Rhod Bevan Planning Appeals Wiltshire Council
From: Jen Wilson January 2021 09:58 To: PlanningAppeals
Re 20/02092/FUL. Peacock House, 125 Beanacre Road, Melksham Dear Sir, thank you for your communication with regard to the above and understand Mr Hunjan is appealing re the existence of a shipping container in front of my house. l did not choose to live in a Wiltshire village seven years ago, only to now view a shipping container from my bedroom and sitting room windows. This inappropriate monstrosity has no place in a village setting. The presence of this container does, of course serve as an 'appropriate' extension of the remainder of this property,which resembles a rubbish tip, mainly for broken down cars and caravans. This state of affairs has existed for several years. The owner, l believe claims he needs this container for storage of tools. Perhaps if the site were to be cleared and made tydy, there would be adequate room on the site for this without the need for a large, out of character container. There appears to be another building attached to the property which does not appear to be used. l strongly disapprove of the presence of this container and see no reason for an appeal to be favourably considerd. Print this letter if you wish yours faithfully Jennifer Wilson
On Tue, Jan 5, 2021 at 1:21 PM PlanningAppeals
Please find attached notification of planning appeal in respect of the above address.
With best regards
Development Services
Economic Development and Planning, Monkton Park, Chippenham Wiltshire SN15 1ER 1 Tel: 0300 456 0114
Web: www.wiltshire.gov.uk
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