®Planning appeal decision
82 St Mary Street and 24 St Thomas Street, Weymouth, Dorset, DT4 8PJ
change of use of the ground floor from retail (Use Class E) to an adult gaming centre and the conversion of the upper floors into five flats with associated internal and external alterations, including the provision of residential access doors onto St Thoma s Street and formation of a ground floor lobby and floor bin storage area, and the retention of works carried out to internally partition 82 St Mary Street and 24 St Thomas Street from the neighbouring properties (81 St Mary Street and 23 St Thomas Street)
- Authority
- Dorset
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Hall R
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether it has been demonstrated that the conversion of the upper floors to residential accommodation would be acceptable with respect to flood risk, with particular regard to the need to provide safe access and escape routes
- whether the proposal would preserve the Grade II listed buildings known as '81 and 82, St Mary Street' (Ref: 1147942) (Nos 81 and 82) and '24, St Thomas Street' (Ref: 1147955) (No 24), or any of the features of special architectural or historic interest that they possess
What decided it
The absence of demonstrated safe access and escape routes during flood events for the lifetime of the development, which conflicts with Policy ENV5(ii) and paragraph 181(e) of the Framework and provides a strong reason for refusal under footnote 7 to paragraph 11(d).
The considerable benefits of delivering five new residential units in a settlement with housing shortfall, economic benefits from conversion and commercial use, reuse of brownfield land, and conservation of listed buildings were outweighed by the significant weight attached to the fundamental importance of ensuring safe accommodation for future occupants in an area of demonstrated flood risk with inadequate safe access and escape routes.
Framework references: 11, 124, 181, 210, 212, 213, 215
Plan policies cited: Policy ENV5(ii) of the West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan (October 2015), Policy ENV4 of the West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan, Policy W44 of the Weymouth Neighbourhood Plan
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.