by Ray George
Sometimes new residents contact the association to ask “Does this require planning permission? Will this get approved?” They will often be disappointed to receive an equivocal answer.
To go back to first principles. Development requires planning permission but what is not development is “the carrying out for the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of any building of works which do not materially affect the external appearance of the building.” The meaning of “materially affect” is ultimately a question for the courts, but in practice may depend on what a planning officer had for breakfast. The Ethelbert Avenue resident who replaced wooden windows with similar looking wooden Everest windows had to submit a planning application which was then refused.
Living in a conservation area does remove some general permissions. Permission is required for demolition of a building (for example, people need this “Conservation Area Consent” when they want to demolish their garage), and tree work. Originally that was all, but more has been added over the years, including some enlargements and adding cladding to the exterior.
The main restraint on development in the conservation area is the “Article 4 Direction”. This was made in 1992 for the Ethelburt Avenue and Uplands Way Conservation Areas. It requires an application for planning permission for some developments that are otherwise generally permitted. In particular, any development on the front or side elevation of a building. A copy of the Article 4 Direction is contained in the Design Guidance booklet for this conservation area.
As for the question of what will be approved. Obviously precedence is helpful. Has something like this been approved before? But the chief determinant will be what it says in the Design Guidance. If the Design Guidance says “it will be a requirement that…” don’t expect to get planning consent for something different. All new residents get a copy of the Design Guidance in their Welcome Packs and it may also be viewed on our website.
The Article 4 Direction only affects certain classes of development contained in the General Permitted Development Order. For example, we still have the general permission for providing a hard surface, painting and gates, walls, fences and microgeneration equipment. (You need to check the details of what is permitted).
In the next newsletter there will be a reply from the City Council’s Planning and Development Manager. I expect to be ‘taken to the cleaners’.