®Planning appeal decision
The White Horse, 182 High Street, London Colney, AL2 1JY
Planning appeal 6005669 at The White Horse, 182 High Street, London Colney, AL2 1JY (St Albans City Council) was dismissed on 24 July 2026 by Inspector E Catcheside, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether acceptable living conditions would be provided for future occupiers, with particular regard to noise.
erection of a three-bedroom residential dwelling (Use Class C3) on existing car park to the rear of the existing public house (Sui Generis), including the demolition of an existing garage and the creation of a new pub car park and enlarged beer garden, construction of replacement storage and bins store, alterations to the existing crossover, associated hard and soft landscaping
- Authority
- St Albans City Council
- Appeal type
- Planning
- Procedure
- Written
- Development
- residential
- Inspector
- E Catcheside
- Postcode
- AL2 1JY
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether acceptable living conditions would be provided for future occupiers, with particular regard to noise
- the effect of the proposed access arrangements on highway safety
What decided it
The inability to reliably mitigate noise effects through conditions because future occupiers would be likely to open windows during warmer periods when noise levels would be high, causing regular and persistent sleep disturbance that would conflict with the agent of change principle and fail to provide acceptable living conditions.
The adverse impacts of noise harm, being the overriding consideration, significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits of one additional dwelling and brownfield redevelopment, such that the presumption in favour of sustainable development did not apply.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy 69Policy 70Policy 34
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11
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 appliedThe 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.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in St Albans City Council
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026
- Planning permission granted15 September 20263311314Land at Former Butterfly World, Miriam Lane, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL2 3NY
- Allowed9 July 2026600642669/69A St Peters Street, St Albans, AL1 3ED
- Allowed9 July 2026600642567 St Peters Street, St Albans, AL1 3EA
- Dismissed13 November 20253371256144 London Road, St. Albans, AL1 1PQ
- Dismissed14 October 2025336533712 Springfield Road, St. Albans, AL1 5LX
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.