This planning application was originally validated by Melton Borough Council on the 7th April and refused on the 9th February for a Replacement of a flat roof with a pitched 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 Melton Borough Council
were that The Local Planning Authority considered that;
The proposed development is, as a result of its design including by nature of the increased height and visual bulk of the roof, considered harmful to the street scene and character of the area.
The proposal would be harmful to residential amenity in terms of visual amenity, loss of light and loss of privacy. The proposed pitched roof would have a detrimental impact upon the living conditions of number 38 and 40 Kings Road. Creating an unacceptable sense of enclosure for the occupants of number 40.
If you have a look at the plans and what difference this roof is compared to the existing one, and the impact it would make on neighbours then you would have a question why this was refused in the first place and how the local authority managed to come up with such a harsh set of refusal reasons!
However the original application for the extension when it was built was for a pitched roof and that was refused and rejected at appeal, which could have had an influence in the decision by the planning officers this time. Although they are meant to look a fresh at what is in front of them this time and another reason why it was correct to appeal.
That said 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 23 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 Melton Borough 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 12th May and issued the appeal decision on 26th May 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.
Melton Borough Council Planning Appeal Case Study
If you would like a free no obligation consultation with a member of our team please call us on 01743 369911
