Appeal 6004527

The appeal is allowed and the details submitted pursuant to condition No 13 attached to planning permission [name]/24/01012/FUL granted on 15 August 2024 in accordance with the application dated 4 November 2025 and the details submitted with it are approved.

At the time of my site visit, some construction work was underway. Regardless of what has been constructed to date, my assessment is based on the plans before me.

The Council’s decision notice does not cite any development plan policies. Nevertheless, copies of relevant policies have been provided by the Council and I have assessed the proposal against these policies.

Full planning permission was secured in 2023 for the construction of 300 no. dwellings (including 90 affordable dwellings), community hall, public open space, associated works and 2 no. accesses from the A259 (one temporary for construction) on the appeal site (reference 21/00571/FUL).

An application to amend the affordable housing tenure split was approved in 2024 (reference BO/24/01012/FUL).

Condition 13 of that permission states: “No development above slab level shall commence until a schedule of all materials and finishes and samples of such materials and finishes to be used for external walls, windows, doors and roofs of the building(s) have been submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority. The development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details”.

The reason for condition 13 states: “To enable the Local Planning Authority to control the development in detail in the interest of amenity and to ensure a development of visual quality. It is considered necessary for this to be a pre-commencement condition as such details need to be taken into account in the construction of the development and thus go to the heart of the planning permission”.

The application which is the subject of this appeal sought to discharge condition 13 insofar as it relates to the approval of the proposed roof materials. Condition 13 has previously been discharged in respect of other proposed materials under a separate application (reference 25/00858/DOC).

Accordingly, the main issue is the effect of the proposed roof materials on the character and appearance of the host buildings and surrounding area.

The appeal site forms a parcel of land located adjacent to the settlement of Broadbridge. The surrounding built environment has a predominantly residential character, comprising buildings of a variety of architectural styles and sizes which exhibit a varied materials palette. Whilst roofs in the surrounding area predominantly use clay tiles, I observed on site that there are examples of properties with concrete tiles, including on [address], [address], [address] and [address]. In general, the concrete tiles have a broadly similar appearance to the clay tiles and, as such, they do not detract from the character and appearance of the area.

The roof materials proposed for the appeal site include clay tiles on properties visible from the A259 and the Chichester Harbour National Landscape and concrete tiles on properties located elsewhere within the site. From the information before me and my observations on site, the proposed roof tiles would complement the other materials to be used on site as well as those present within the surrounding area. The concrete tiles would be similar in colour and appearance to the proposed clay tiles, thereby avoiding an overly varied material palette and the consequential creation of a discordant appearance.

The Council raises concerns regarding the long-term aesthetic quality of concrete tiles. However, while the proposed concrete tiles may weather differently to clay tiles, there is no evidence before me to demonstrate that this would lead to a harmful effect on the character and appearance of the site or surrounding area.

Therefore, I conclude that the proposed roof materials would respect the character and appearance of the area and would not have a harmful effect on the host buildings or surrounding area. As such, the proposal accords with the relevant provisions of Policies P1, P2 and P8 of the Chichester Local Plan 2021-2039. In summary, these policies seek development which achieves a high design quality, enhances the local environment by way of its appearance and uses materials which respect and complement local distinctiveness, character, texture and colour of materials locally characteristic to the area.

For the reasons given above, the proposal complies with the development plan and there are no material considerations which indicate that the appeal should be decided other than in accordance with it. Therefore, the appeal should be allowed.