21/21A High Street, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HP1 3AA

a change of use on ground floor from A1 shops to A3 restaurant and cafes and addition of first and second floors, loft conversion including dormers to create 3 dwellings

Authority: Dacorum Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Buchanan R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the proposal on the living conditions of the existing occupants of ground and first floor flats at the rear of No.23 High Street, with regard to outlook and natural light
its effect on the Chilterns Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation
whether it would be necessary to provide off-street car parking

What decided it

The proposal would cause significant harm to the living conditions of neighbouring residents and would adversely affect the integrity of a protected habitats site, and these harms outweighed the benefits of housing supply and heritage conservation.

The limited social and economic benefits of housing supply and the considerable weight of heritage and town centre benefits did not outweigh the substantial weight of harm to neighbouring living conditions and the statutory interests of the Chilterns Beechwoods SAC.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: CS12, CS26, CS8

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.

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