513a - 515a Gale Street Dagenham, RM9 4TP, Dagenham, RM9 4TP

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• the effect of the development on the provision of social and community facilities in the local area
• whether the development provides acceptable living conditions for future occupants with regard to internal configuration, access arrangements and external space
• the effect of the development on highway safety, having regard to parking provision
• whether the development makes adequate provision for cycle parking
• whether the development makes adequate provision for refuse storage

What decided it

The unjustified loss of a social and community facility combined with the failure to provide acceptable living conditions for future occupants (particularly the absence of private external space) and harm to highway safety through parking pressure, which substantially and demonstrably outweighed the limited benefits of delivering one dwelling.

The limited benefits of delivering one dwelling and making more effective use of an existing building were substantially outweighed by the unjustified loss of a social and community facility, failure to provide acceptable living conditions, harm to highway safety, and inadequate provision for refuse storage and sustainable travel, such that the presumption in favour of sustainable development did not apply.