Agenda item

Erection of 3 dwellings with associated access, parking, amenity space and installation of vehicular crossover (Outline Planning Permission).

Recommendation: Refusal

RESOLVED:  That the application be refused.

Officers introduced the report, confirmeding that the proposal would provide a net increase in two family dwellinghouses, which was a material planning consideration in favour of the development. However, the weight to be afforded this had been considered in light of the Council's ability to demonstrate a five year land supply. 

Officers asserted that the proposal would result in the significant loss of back garden land and the functions it served, in relation to local character, amenity space and the support of biodiversity. The benefit of two additional family dwellinghouses was not felt to outweigh the significant harm caused by the loss of the existing back garden land.

In addition, to enable the internal roads to be completed to serve two of the dwellings, works to the road at the end Foxdell would be required, and such work was not within the ability of the applicant. Instead, this would require intervention by the Council as highways authority. This would need to be the subject of a legal agreement, and while the applicant had submitted a late Unilateral Undertaking, this had subsequently been withdrawn by the applicant.

The addendum was highlighted, which clarified the petitioners’ objections to the application.

For the reasons outlined within the Officer’s report, the application was recommended for refusal.

A statement was read to the Committee on behalf of the petitioners objecting to the application, key points of which included:

·         The petition reflects the concerns of many residents in the Dene Road area, 54 of whom signed the Petition. Additionally, 7 residents submitted individual letters objecting to the Application, raising in total some 24 points of objection.

·         These objections are supported by the Dene Road Residents Association representing 120 households, as well as the Northwood Residents Association.

·         The Dene Road area has been officially recognised and designated as an Area of Outstanding Local Character.

·         The third application for this site within the past two years has changed little from the second application, which was rejected by the North Planning Committee on 17 June 2020.

·         The main reasons for the rejection of the second application have not been addressed in the third application, and the report recommends refusal for the same reasons as that of the second application, i.e. loss of gardens at odds with surrounding area, a cramped form detrimental to visual amenity, character and appearance of the area, as well as the lack of a Section 106 agreement for accessing the site from Foxdell.

·         The application claims to maintain the building line with adjacent houses in Foxdell and Firs Walk. However, this is at odds with the “Indicative Site Layout Plan” with the houses set to the fore of existing houses.

·         The forward-facing garage spurs are also not in line with the garages of the existing houses.

·         The plan also shows large crown roofs which are not supported by DMHD 1 (B-viii). This is a non-traditional roofing form and not sympathetic to the traditionally designed houses in the immediate locality. 

·         The application states that no trees will be affected by the proposal, however three 80-year-old trees were felled on the property no. 6 Firs Walk in April 2018, just before the submission of the first application, and thus there are no guarantees that further environmental destruction will not be carried out.

·         Approval of the application would be in contravention of many of Hillingdon’s planning policies (e.g. DMH6, DHMB 11, DHMB 14, BE1 section 2 and 9, BE19, EM4) and would also contravene the decisions made by this Committee against the previous two applications and by the Inspector appointed on the appeal of the first application (which was dismissed.)

·         The report identifies the lack of a Section 106 Agreement for works required to connect the site to the end of Foxdell, which the application fails to mention. As set out in the report, a Letter before Action was issued to Hillingdon by the owners of nos. 6, 8, 11, and 13 Foxdell on 22 November 2019, giving details of the challenge which is founded on the strong belief that the road between their properties is not part of the public highway.

·         The effect of the challenge, if upheld, would be that there would be no public right of way over that section of Foxdell, which would therefore not provide access to the proposed development. The Council has not yet responded to the Letter before Action and arguments such as those set out in the first paragraph of the Report's Section 7.10 have not yet been subject to scrutiny, assessment and counter-argument.

·         Access is restricted from Firs Walk, a privately-owned narrow lane that is not a public highway. Its tight 90 degrees turn would render any construction traffic impossible, and any increase in traffic by the development’s residents would neither be safe nor permitted by all the owners of the road. Access suitability and safety are a planning consideration (DHMB 12).

Members supported the office’s recommendation for the reasons set out in the report. The recommendation was moved, seconded, and when put to a vote, unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED:  That the application be refused.