Applicant council granting permission for rebuilding of dwelling-house in conservation area – Constructed building larger than that permitted by scheme – Council issuing enforcement notice and refusing renewed planning application – Respondents appealing – Inspector allowing appeals – Whether inspector failing to properly apply section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 – Application and appeal dismissed
Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council (the applicants) granted the second and third respondents (Nigel Alliance and Victoria Alliance) planning permission to demolish their existing house, which fell within a conservation area, and build a new dwelling. Works were carried out, but the respondents constructed a larger structure than was permitted; in particular, it contained a terrace at the rear that was substantially increased in size. The applicants issued an enforcement notice requiring the unauthorised works to be removed by demolishing relevant parts of the building and rebuilding them, so as to comply with the permitted scheme. The applicants refused to grant a fresh application for permission to retain the building as constructed. Consequently, the respondents appealed against both the enforcement notice and the refusal to grant permission, and an inquiry was held.
In his decision letter, the inspector stated the main issue to be the effect of the dwelling, as built, upon the conservation area. He continued; ‘in this particular part of the conservation area, I consider the character or appearance which it is in the public interest to preserve or enhance, to be the character or appearance of those parts which are visible from the highway; and it is with this approach in mind that I intend to determine these appeals’. The inspector allowed the appeals.
The applicant council applied to quash the inspector’s decision, pursuant to section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and also appealed under section 289 of the Act. The principal ground of challenge was that the inspector failed to pay special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the conservation area, in accordance with section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. In particular, it was submitted that the inspector’s approach amounted to a disregard of those parts of the conservation area that were private and not visible from public viewpoints.
Held: The application and appeal were dismissed.
Reading the decision as a whole, it could not be said that the inspector disregarded the impact of the structure on private areas. The inspector was entitled to form a planning judgment as to the important aspects of the case. Although he could have expressed himself more clearly, it was open to the inspector to take the view that what really mattered, in this particular part of the conservation area, was the character or appearance of those areas visible from public vantage points.
Martin Carter (instructed by the solicitor to Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council) appeared for the applicant; Michael Bedford (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared for the first respondent; Nicholas Nardecchia (instructed by Halliwell Landau, of Manchester) appeared for the second and third respondents.
