Appeal 3283043

The appeal is dismissed.

The main issues are: • the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the street scene; and • whether the proposal would adversely affect nearby trees.

The proposal is for a detached double garage with a storeroom at first floor level on the gravel car parking area next to [site address] . The cottage lies on the southern side of [site address] at the western end of the frontage development which lines both sides of the road in an otherwise rural area.

[site address] itself is a modest bungalow with a fully hipped roof which forms a low profile conclusion to the group of substantial chalet bungalows to its east. In this context, the proposed two-storey garage/store building, situated well to the side of the plot next to woodland and well forward of the cottage, would appear unduly bulky and overly prominent in the street scene. According to the Council it would only be about [address] and a full 6.9 m high to the ridge. Two overly bulky dormers rising almost to the ridge and filling most of the roof slope would add to the intrusive appearance.

The appellant argues that the proposal would be no larger than other similar developments in the Borough and lists a number of applications where it is said large garages have been permitted close to the highway. Nearby on [site address] are numerous large-scale properties. However, no details of these cases are provided and during the site visit no directly comparable detached double garage/storage buildings were seen along the road. In any event, the scale and situation of [site address] are unique such that examples elsewhere would not be relevant in this instance.

For these reasons the proposal would significantly harm the character and appearance of the street scene in conflict with Policies SP1 and SP6 of the Ashford Local Plan 2019 (ALP) and the Council’s SPG9 ‘[name] and Outbuildings in Urban and [name]. These require development to respond to the prevailing character of the area and to be of high quality design, and new garages and outbuildings to be visually subservient in terms of size, scale and bulk to the dwelling that it will serve.

The proposed site of the garage/store lies close to the property boundary adjacent to a substantial area of woodland. Whether this is ancient woodland is disputed but the root protection area of individual trees to the south-west and on the road frontage may be affected given the siting proposed. Whilst the appellant states that the nearest trees are at least 7 m away, in the absence of an accurate survey and arboricultural report specific to this proposal the trees concerned could be adversely affected. This would be contrary to ALP Policy ENV5 which seeks to protect ancient and semi-natural woodland.

The proposal would provide new useable floorspace with suitable headroom to supplement the existing property, thus benefiting its occupants. It would be constructed to modern sustainability standards. It would improve the security of parked cars on the property, storing them out of sight, and would generate some additional economic activity for the local area. However, these material considerations are not sufficient to outweigh the findings in relation to the two main issues and the associated conflict with the development plan.

Having regard to the above the appeal should be dismissed.