Appeal 3301881

The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for the construction of a first floor extension at [site address] in accordance with the terms of the application, Ref. 22/0159/FUL, dated 7 February 2022, subject to the following conditions:

The development hereby permitted shall begin not later than three years from the date of this decision;

Other than as required by condition no. 3) below, the development shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans: [name]. Series 5578: Plan Nos. 01A; 02A; 03A; 04A;

The extension shall be constructed using external materials first submitted to and agreed in writing by the Local Planning Authority;

No work on the development or associated activity including deliveries shall take place other than between 0800-1800 hours Mondays to Fridays; 0800- 1300 hours on Saturdays and at no time on Sundays and Public Holidays.

The main issue is the effect of the first floor side extension on the character and appearance of the street scene of Quarry Park Road. The officer’s report refers to other matters but these do not fall within the scope of the Notice of Refusal and are of insufficient weight to affect my Decision.

I saw on my visit that this side of Quarry Park Road is already terraced at ground floor level by virtue of the adjoining flat roofed garages attached to the flank of the semi-detached houses. The conjunction of two garages together is a in my view a poor design feature of the original development that draws the eye and has a noticeably adverse effect on the quality of the street scene. And in the similar first floor extensions at Nos. 34 and 38 to that now proposed, the disadvantage of a reduction in the visual break between the semi-detached pairs above ground floor level is to a material extent offset by the effective removal of that feature.

Bearing in mind that advantage, and agreeing with the Council’s judgement in the examples of similar permissions in Beverly and [address] granted after the adoption of the Council’s Householder’s Guide to [name] 2008 (as referred to in the grounds of appeal), I conclude on balance that the proposed first floor extension would not have an unacceptable effect on the street scene of Quarry Park Road. In reaching this decision I have had regard to the proposed extension’s set down and set back to achieve the subservience required in the Council’s design guidance.

Accordingly, there would be no harmful conflict with Policy CP17 of the [name] 2012; paragraphs (b), (f), (g) & (h) of Policy DG1 of the Exeter Local Plan First Review 2005 and Section 12: ‘[name] of the National Planning Policy Framework 2021.

I shall therefore allow the appeal. A condition requiring the development to be carried out in accordance with the approved plans is needed for the avoidance of doubt and is in the interests of proper planning. An external materials condition is needed to safeguard visual amenity, whilst a condition restricting the hours of work on construction will protect neighbours from unreasonable noise and disturbance.