Appeal 6003165

The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for the installation of an electrical car charging point located to the principal elevation of the main dwellinghouse at [address], [site address] , Leicestershire [postcode] in accordance with the terms of the application, Ref 25/01375/FUL, dated 03/10/2025, and the plans submitted with it, subject to the following conditions:

The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans: Existing Ground Floor Plan PG NO: 02, [name]: 04, Proposed Ground Floor Plan PG NO: 02, [name]: 04, Site Location and Block Plan PG NO: 05 and [name].

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

I have taken the description of development in the banner heading above from the Decision Notice of the Council as it describes the development in a more concise manner than that on the Application Form. Whilst there is no record of a formal agreement to the change in front of me, given that the words ‘electric car charging point’ were included in the applicant’s original description I am satisfied that neither party is prejudiced by this course of action.

The main issue is the effect of the proposal on highway safety.

[address] is a rural road located on the edge of the settlement of [site address] . There is no pavement and the appeal property is one of several terraced properties that have no front gardens, although there is a single concrete doorstep that leads to the front door. The appeal property and the adjoining terraced properties have no off-road parking. The road has a speed limit of 30mph and there are no parking restrictions in place.

Consent is sought for the installation of an electric car charging point on the front elevation of the terraced property which would overhang the public highway given the property has no front garden. However, this does not mean that the charging point would obstruct users of the public highway whether they are pedestrians or drivers. From my site visit it was evident that vehicles already park outside the terraced properties which narrows the public highway, but not to the point where cars or larger emergency vehicles cannot pass. The introduction of a charging point will not change this dynamic.

I note that the charging point would have less of a projection onto the public highway than the existing doorstep to the appeal property so in this location the additional impact arising for pedestrians is negligible. Concerns have been raised over trailing cables however it is most likely the occupier would be parking their car directly in front of their home, as they already do, so the length of trailing cable would be kept to a minimum. Furthermore, any driver is most likely to park as close to their home as possible to reduce the risk of being ‘clipped’ by passing vehicles on this country lane. Thereby pedestrians would be most likely to walk around any cars rather than squeezing through the gap between the house and car. This suggests that any trips or falls caused by the charging cable would be highly unlikely.

Concerns have been raised that the proposal will result in the narrowing of the public highway potentially causing congestion and creating difficulties for emergency vehicles to pass. However, as indicated above, given that cars already lawfully park outside the appeal site, the proposal would result in no discernible change in this regard. The introduction of a charging point would therefore have no impact on the free flow of traffic in this location.

In summary, I have found that the proposal would have no adverse impact on the safety of either pedestrians or drivers and would not result in additional congestion on local roads. As such, it would not be harmful to highway safety. This is in full accordance with policy IF4 of the North West Leicestershire Local Plan. Amongst other matters the policy ensures that development takes account of the impact upon the highway network. It would also accord with the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework) which only seeks to refuse development on highway safety grounds where there would be an unacceptable impact.

I note that Leicestershire County Council prohibits residents from having electric car charging points which overhang the public highway. However, as explained above, I am satisfied that there would be no actual harm arising in this instance.

The appeal site is located within the [site address] Conservation Area. Section 72 (1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires special attention to be paid to preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of conservation areas. In addition, the Framework requires great weight to be given to the conservation of heritage assets. Given the very minor size and low level positioning of the charging point, this would be a very discreet addition on the front elevation. On this basis the proposal would have no adverse impact on the character or appearance of the conservation area.

In addition to the standard time condition, I have imposed a condition requiring that the development is carried out following the approved plans, for the avoidance of doubt and in the interests of certainty.

For the reasons given above, I conclude that the proposal would be in accordance with the development plan as a whole and there are no material considerations that indicate that the development should be determined otherwise than in accordance with it. Therefore, the appeal is allowed.