14 West Common Grove, HARPENDEN, AL5 2LL

single storey front, rear and side extension, internal alterations to openings, solar panels. Detached garage, new boundary treatment to southern elevation, closure of driveway on southern end of plot with hedging

Authority: St Albans City Council
Appeal type: householder · Householder (HAS)
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Bennett T

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposed development would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Harpenden Conservation Area

What decided it

The replacement of the pitched front gable with flat roof elements and the prominent flat-roofed garage would harmfully disrupt the traditional cohesive roof forms of the conservation area and detract from its significance, with insufficient public benefits to outweigh this harm.

Framework references: 215

Plan policies cited: Policy 85, Policy 72, Policy 69, Policy ESD1, Policy ESD2

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.
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.
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