®Planning appeal decision
Land to the Rear of 76-80 Oakwood Road, Bricket Wood, St. Albans, AL2 3QA
Planning appeal 3282256 at Land to the Rear of 76-80 Oakwood Road, Bricket Wood, St. Albans, AL2 3QA (St Albans City Council) was allowed on 25 April 2022 by Inspector Savage K, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the siting of the proposed dwellings would lead to future pressure from occupants to prune or remove surrounding trees, and if so, the effect of this on the character and appearance of the area.
6 x 3 bedroom dwellings, access, landscaping and all enabling works
- Authority
- St Albans City Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Savage K
- Postcode
- AL2 3QA
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the siting of the proposed dwellings would lead to future pressure from occupants to prune or remove surrounding trees, and if so, the effect of this on the character and appearance of the area
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites, combined with the finding that the proposal would not lead to demonstrable harm to trees or character and appearance, engaged the presumption in favour of sustainable development under NPPF paragraph 11(d), and no adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of housing delivery.
The substantial benefits of delivering six dwellings at a time when the Council cannot demonstrate a five-year housing supply outweighed the minor concerns raised, with no significant adverse impacts identified that would significantly and demonstrably outweigh those benefits
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy 69Policy 70Policy 74
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11
- Judgments
- Bernard Wheatcroft Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment (1982) JLP 37
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in St Albans City Council
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2022
- Dismissed25 September 2026600980858 And 60 Waverley Road St, St Albans, St Albans, AL3 5PE
- Dismissed5 August 20266006844Land Rear Of 14 Oakwood Road, Bricket Wood, AL2 3PU
- Allowed9 July 2026600642669/69A St Peters Street, St Albans, AL1 3ED
- Allowed9 July 2026600642567 St Peters Street, St Albans, AL1 3EA
- Allowed1 October 20253365491Lye Lane, Bricket Wood, St Albans, AL2 3TF
The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.