Appeal 3280424

The appeal is dismissed.

The condition in dispute relates to a condition on a planning permission granted for the erection of a care home following the demolition of the existing buildings on the site. The condition requires the submission and approval of a drainage strategy for the site prior to the commencement of development.

The main issue in the appeal is whether the condition is reasonable and necessary to ensure the adequate drainage of the site.

When considering development proposals it is necessary to ensure that adequate drainage is provided for the site. As drainage can affect the layout of the proposal/site and generally needs to be laid out on the site before the main construction of buildings takes place, it is essential that an adequate drainage strategy is agreed with the local planning authority before development commences on the site.

In this case the appellant has stated that a drainage strategy was submitted in March 2021, several months before the application was determined. As such, he considers that the imposition of this condition was unnecessary.

As drainage is a technical matter, drainage strategies need to be assessed by various bodies which can include relevant utility companies, the Environment Agency and the Lead Local Flood Authority as well as the Council’s own drainage engineers. The Council have stated that it had not been possible for the submitted drainage strategy to be assessed by the various necessary consultees prior to the application being determined. As a result, they state that it was agreed with the appellant, that rather than delay the decision any further to enable the necessary consultation to take place, the application should be determined with drainage being subject to a pre-commencement

I do not know why it had not been possible to consult the necessary consultees before the application was determined but given that this was the case, the local planning authority was not in a position to know whether the submitted drainage strategy would provide a satisfactory drainage solution for the proposal. As such, the condition was necessary and reasonable to ensure that adequate drainage of the site would take place. It therefore meets the test for conditions set out in paragraph 56 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

The appellant has suggested that the condition should be varied to read that the development takes place in accordance with the drainage strategy that had been submitted in March 2021. However, whether that drainage strategy provides adequate drainage for the site is not something I can determine, as it needs to be consulted on with technical experts with detailed local knowledge of the drainage in the area.

I therefore consider that the condition is reasonable and necessary to ensure the adequate drainage of the site. Without the condition there is no certainty that the development would provide adequate drainage of the site.

For the reasons set out above, I conclude the appeal should be dismissed.