29 Oakfield Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2NW

Planning appeal 3345647 at 29 Oakfield Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2NW (St Albans City Council) was dismissed on 14 November 2024 by Inspector Bell-Williamson J, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the appeal site and the surrounding area.

erection of bungalow to the rear of the existing dwelling

Authority: St Albans City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Bell-Williamson J
Postcode: AL5 2NW

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the appeal site and the surrounding area

What decided it

The material harm to the character and appearance of the appeal site and surrounding area caused by the proposed dwelling being materially smaller than characteristic properties in the area, which would be readily apparent from the public realm, outweighed the limited housing benefits in circumstances where the presumption in favour of sustainable development applied.

The significant shortfalls in housing supply and delivery were given considerable weight, but the material harm to character and appearance and conflict with the development plan and Framework's design requirements were given significant weight and outweighed the benefits of a single dwelling

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies: Policy 69Policy 70Policy ESD1
National Planning Policy Framework: Paragraph 11Paragraph 76Paragraph 77Paragraph 135Paragraph 226

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 applied

The 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.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

33 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision

An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter — Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.

Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app — Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.

Start your free trial

More decisions in St Albans City Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2024

Dismissed25 September 20266009808
58 And 60 Waverley Road St, St Albans, St Albans, AL3 5PE
Dismissed22 September 20266013802
33 Oakfield Road, Harpenden, AL52NP
Invalid17 September 20266008247
18 Manland Way, Harpenden, AL5 4QS
Planning permission granted15 September 20263311314
Land at Former Butterfly World, Miriam Lane, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL2 3NY
Notice upheld15 September 20263311308
Land at Former Butterfly World, Miriam Lane, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL2 3NY

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.