33 Church Street, ROMSEY, SO51 8BT

Change of Use of Ground Floor to Dwelling

Authority: Test Valley Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Thomas G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposed change of use would have an unacceptable deleterious effect on the viability and vitality of Romsey town centre shopping area
whether the proposed change of use would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Romsey Conservation Area

What decided it

The marketing exercise and Inspector's site observations demonstrating the appeal site is a peripheral retail location with insufficient footfall and commercial demand, combined with no heritage harm, outweighed the policy conflict with the primary shopping frontage designation.

Plan policies cited: Policy LE12, Policy E9

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.

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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.
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