Appeal 3323577

The appeal is dismissed.

The property has been given planning permission by the Council for an extension and various alterations (Ref, 2021/3883). The appeal scheme seeks to alter elements of that approved scheme. The development has already been commenced.

The Council makes it clear that their objection to the proposal relates solely to the use of the external materials consisting of rendered elevations and a slate roof.

The main issue in this appeal is the effects of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area.

The appeal relates to this 2 storey detached house which is set within a residential area. [address] predominantly consists of 2 storey detached houses, constructed with brick elevations and the same concrete tiled roofs. Although there are some variations to the designs of the houses, the consistent use of brick and tiles results in a coherent and unified appearance. Some houses have tile hanging on parts of the elevations but this gives a similar impression and broad colouring as the brickwork. Some also contain elements of timber cladding but these are small in comparison to the building as a whole and the brickwork predominates.

The previous planning permission (Ref, 2021/3883) approved the use of bricks and tiles to match the then existing house. The appeal seeks approval for all elevations to be rendered and the roof to be of slates. Whilst the area contains variations in the style of houses and some variations in materials, a strong and positive feature of the area is the use of the same roof tiles and the use of red/brown and yellow bricks. In some cases the use of timber and tile hanging on elevations forms a small part of the elevations.

In my judgement the use of rendered elevations for the whole building would mean that it would appear considerably out of place within this area. It would appear completely inconsistent with the palette of materials used in the surrounding properties and it would fail to harmonise with them, for this reason. The use of slate roof tiles would add to its discordant appearance. [name] accept that the use of render and slate tiles can be appropriate in certain areas, this is not the case for the proposal in this area, in my judgement.

The appellant considers that the proposed materials would be acceptable in this area and could be the first of other similar proposals and so, be appropriate. My assessment is that it would be starkly at odds with the strong prevailing character of the area and that it would have a harmful effect on it.

As a result of my findings, the development would give rise to conflict with Policy CS17 of the [name] and Policy DM2 of the Development Management Plan. I have taken account of all other matters and find that there is nothing sufficient to outweigh the conflict with these policies. Consequently, the appeal is dismissed.