Appeal 3346863

The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for demolition of garage, erection of part single and part two storey side and rear extensions at [site address] in accordance with the terms of the application, Ref 24/00598/APP and the plans submitted with it, subject to the following conditions:

The development hereby permitted shall begin not later than 3 years from the date of this decision.

The development shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plan: 22-1024-01-PL01.

Prior to the first use of the garage within the development hereby permitted, a scheme of planting which has previously been submitted to, and approved in writing by, the local planning authority which shall also include details of on-site parking and boundary treatment, shall be completed and thereafter retained for the life of the development.

At the time of my site visit it appeared that a previous approval (Ref 23/4004/APP) was in course of construction. The subject of this appeal differs in only one material respect from that approval, which is the single garage which would be attached to the side of the two-storey extension. I have addressed the matter accordingly.

The Main Issue is the effect of the proposed development upon the character and appearance of the host dwelling and the area.

The appeal site, [site address] (No.12) is an extended two-storey detached house located on a corner plot in a suburban estate dating from middle decades of the twentieth century. No.12 is located away from the side boundary on the northern side of the junction of that suburban road with [address]. Notwithstanding some variation in house designs there is an overall consistency of development pattern such that arrangements at junctions within the immediate area appear to have a significant degree of symmetry. However, the plot of No.12 is wider than that of No.14 located on the opposing, southern, corner. The additional width of around 4m is similar to the width of the two-storey part of the proposed extension and that which I found to be approaching completion under approval Ref 23/4004/APP.

The width to the site boundary of the appeal site from the flank wall of its two-storey extension1 is broadly equivalent to that found at No.14. However, with regard to No.14 that distance relates to the flank wall of the original dwelling and not an extension and includes a space which is occupied by what would appear to be a rebuilt garage. Consequently, the insertion of the proposed garage2 into a similar position on the appeal site would result in a broadly balanced arrangement at the junction with equivalent opportunities to reinstate suitable boundary treatments.

The Vale of Aylesbury Design Supplementary Planning Document 2023 (SPD) gives detailed guidance as to the way domestic extensions can be designed to be sympathetic to the host dwelling and avoid harmful effects. However, these recommendations are conceived as general design guidance and require interpretation as to context and specific circumstances such as exist in in this case where there is no adjacent dwelling. [address] curves away from its junction with [address] and the disposition of the semi-detached housing pairs is generally closer on its southern side than on the northern, resulting in a larger plot for No.12 which is capable, in the way I have explained, of accommodating the proposed extension including its garage, without appearing cramped. The proposal would, broadly, align with the frontages on [address].

Whilst the proposal would conflict with the guidance as to widths of extensions in the way the [name] sets out, a range of extensions are present in the area and this is a corner plot. Consequently, what is proposed would not introduce obtrusive change into the street scene, indeed, the addition of a single garage would balance what is found on the opposite corner and graduate the height change from two storey to one storey in a similar way. Overall, for the reasons set out I find no conflict with Policy BE2 of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan 2021 which seeks that new development complement the physical characteristics of the site, nor, therefore with the development plan as a whole. Consequently, the appeal succeeds subject to the usual plans and timing conditions and further conditions to ensure hard and soft landscaping, including parking arrangements, accords with the basis of my decision.