9165 - BM Outlook 2022 R6 - Flipbook - Page 22
Finding a way through the maze
At Borstal Hill, Whitstable, Batcheller
Monkhouse supported a client who had
already purchased land next to an existing
dwelling which had permission for three
new homes. When the client bought the
neighbouring home and put forward
a similar plan it was turned down on
highway grounds. Batcheller Monkhouse
submitted a revised scheme for two
dwellings which was approved and is
being built.
Similar negotiation skills helped secure
planning permission for the conversion
of a Class B8 storage barn into a dwelling
after the client had twice been refused
permission to create new build homes on
the same site.
Batcheller Monkhouse liaised with the
local council throughout the application
process for the site in Sandhurst to
create a scheme that was sensitive to the
building’s rural character and Conservation
Area setting, close to a listed building and
in the High Weald Area of Outstanding
Natural Beauty.
Converting the barn rather than replacing
it will create a unique and contemporary
home, while the project will also improve
the character of the area by removing
a significant amount of hardstanding
associated with the former agricultural
and storage use. Close liaison with the
council saw planning consent granted
within the standard eight-week timeframe.
At Clarendon Drive, Strood, plans for six
dwellings on an urban infill site close
to existing homes won the approval of
Medway Council’s Planning Committee,
but not without extensive negotiation on
design and landscaping both during and
after the decision. The buildings are now
close to being completed.
An alternative to permitted
development
While the range of options available to
farmers through the use of permitted
development rights may be widely known,
fewer people are aware that these rights
can also be used to justify entirely new
development.
One type of permitted development,
known as Class Q, allows farm buildings
to be converted into residential dwellings,
but the restrictions and conditions around
permitted development mean that the
conversion is limited to the footprint and
overall massing of the existing structure.
Protecting habitat sites in the Arun Valley was key to the planning application at Coneyhurst, West Sussex
New cladding can be added and new
windows and doors installed, but not many
people are keen to live in a modern steel
framed barn that could contain up to four
other homes.
Clarendon Drive required extensive negotiation on design and landscaping
The good news is that many councils
are willing to consider entirely newbuild schemes that are offered as an
alternative to permitted development once
the principle has been established. The
Batcheller Monkhouse team has worked
with clients and architects on a number
of occasions to develop a suitable design
and layout that is in keeping with the rural
area, uses traditional features and local
materials and can be presented as a clear
improvement to a simple conversion.
One of these schemes followed a Class
Q approval near Horsham which allowed
the client to convert a steel framed
agricultural barn into four new homes
that would, though, have been bland and
uninspiring because of the design of the
original farm building.
As an alternative, a farmstead of traditional
cottages was presented to the council
alongside a strong planning case to justify
why the Class Q permission could be
seen as a reasonable ‘fall back’ position.
Following negotiation on the details, the
council saw the alternative scheme as a
20 | Outlook
significant improvement to the Class Q
approval and welcomed a scheme that
was clearly in keeping with the design
styles found in the parish. The application
was approved, allowing the client to build
a cluster of traditional cottages in place of
an under-utilised barn.
The Horsham project discussed above
will be unaffected as permission has
already been granted, but anyone with an
unimplemented Class Q consent in West
Sussex is urged to seek advice before
moving forward.
The issue of water neutrality has added
an additional planning hurdle that needs
to be cleared in Horsham District and the
surrounding areas.
All forms of permitted development are
required to comply with habitat regulations
before any work can be carried out.
Without demonstrating water neutrality,
such development cannot be lawfully
implemented, which means there is no
fallback position to justify an alternative
development.
The issue came to light following concerns
raised by Natural England on the impact
of increased demands on the water supply
feeding the protected habitat sites in
the Arun Valley. Any development that
increases water consumption has the
potential to adversely impact these sites
and would be contrary to the Conservation
of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
In a nutshell, all new development must
be, in effect, water neutral.
Batcheller Monkhouse has been working
with clients over the past few months
to come up with measures to reduce
water use and, where required, produce
offsetting solutions for Class Q approvals.
The next step involves submitting
a Habitat Regulations Assessment
application seeking sign off from Natural
England so that the fallback position can
be re-established, allowing projects to
move forward.
Another challenge
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