This planning application was originally validated by Royal Borough of Greenwich Council on the 13th June and refused on the 13th August for a Loft conversion incorporating rear dormer window, outrigger dormer, increase in ridge height by 250mm and two rooflights to front roof.
This type of appeal is a householder appeal and as such has 12 weeks for the appeal to be submitted from the decision notice date.
We always recommend leaving at least a whole clear month from instruction to appeal deadline in-case additional investigations are needed, but the more time available the better, we are often unable to accept any appeals that have less than 2 weeks left to appeal, as this would provide insufficient time to produce the appeal to the standard we work to.
The refusal reasons given by Royal Borough of Greenwich Council were that The Local Planning Authority considered that;
The proposed rear dormer and outrigger roof extensions and the raising of the ridge, by reason of their excessive bulk/scale and massing and incompatible design, would constitute dominant and incongruous additions that would not remain secondary to the host dwelling and would have a significant detrimental effect on its character as well as on the wider terrace and surrounding streetscape.
As such, the proposed development is considered to not be in accordance with Policy D3 of The London Plan (2021), Policies DH1 and DH(a) of the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies (2014), and the Council's Residential Extensions, Basements and Conversions SPD (December 2018).
Many people upon receiving a refusal like this, decide to give up at this stage, and do not go to appeal, but honestly refusal reasons like these are perfectly normal and although comprehensive can be overcome, as we show in this video.
For this appeal we produced a 25 page detailed appeal statement, working our way through the delegated officers report and decision notice, dismantling their objections and the reasons the planning officer at Royal Borough of Greenwich
Council had used to refuse this application.
Providing a comprehensive and robust argument, bringing national and local policies into play, and detailed reasoning as to why the findings were wrong, and in-fact this development was perfectly acceptable.
Additionally we completed a detailed amount of research to find very similar cases, that the planning inspectorate had previously granted, and we looked to use these cases to support our argument as best possible.
With this type of appeal a ‘Householder Appeal’ the local authority has no right of response to our appeal statement, nor do we get to supply any further details later down the line, so it is imperative that the argument is absolutely on point when submitted.
This case like the vast majority of similar cases, was dealt with by way of Written Representation, and as such it is paramount that the argument is very comprehensive and robust as there is no second chance to respond.
The inspector visited the appeal site on 16th February and issued the appeal decision on 23rd February in a concise three page appeal decision report.
The good news was that the appeal was upheld and the permission granted.
Our approach for producing appeal documents that go into great detail to work through the refusal reasons, officers reports and policies in detail, and to supply supporting cases where the inspectorate has granted similar appeals is invaluable.
This gives the client their best chance of success, admittedly it does take longer to produce, and increases costs slightly by going into that level of detail, but it is that attention to detail that is absolutely paramount.
As an organisation HEAL Planning is one of the leading appeals specialists with both dedicated in-house planning and legal teams, whose job it is to win your case, both these skill sets are invaluable to produce a robust and compelling case to gain a win.
You won’t find many organisations in our industry that have both of these skill sets a planning and a legal team, and it is most definitely a major reason why we have the success rate we do.
Without appealing your Planning refusal you cannot gain the permission you would like!
Your appeal will go to The Planning Inspectorate, they are a government-based organisation that is appointed by the Secretary of State to handle all types of planning appeals, based out of Bristol and covering England and Wales the Planning Inspectorate gives you a chance of success to gain that permission you are seeking, and taking the decision process away from your local authority’s planning officer.
If you would like a free no obligation consultation with myself or a member of our team please call us on 01743 369911 or email appeals@planningappealsuk.com and give your appeal its best chance of success.
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