427 Wellington Road North, Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Manchester, SK4 5BA

rear shop to convert to studio flat

Authority: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Russell M

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would provide suitable living conditions for future occupants with particular regard to the quality of the internal and external living environment
The effect of the proposal on the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers
Whether the proposal would be acceptable in terms of flood risk

What decided it

The failure to provide suitable living conditions for future occupants and the inadequate demonstration of flood resilience were material considerations that significantly and demonstrably outweighed the modest benefits of housing delivery.

The modest benefits of providing a single dwelling in an accessible location with economic benefits from conversion works were significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the failure to provide suitable living conditions for future occupants and the undemonstrated flood resilience of the proposal.

Framework references: 130, 159, 11

Plan policies cited: Policy H-1 (Design of Residential Development), Policy SIE1 (Quality Places), Policy SIE-3 (Protecting, Safeguarding and Enhancing the Environment), Saved Policy CDH1.5 (Flat Conversions), Saved Policy EP1.7 (Development and Flood Risk)

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.