75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision Site Visit made on 7 July 2021 by A Tucker BA (Hons) IHBC an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 24 August 2021 Appeal Ref: APP/D0840/W/21/3271334 75 Trelowarren Street, Camborne TR14 8AL • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 against a refusal to grant planning permission. • The appeal is made by Cher Varya Group against the decision of Cornwall Council. • The application Ref PA20/04347, dated 28 May 2020, was refused by notice dated 3 December 2020. • The development proposed is construction of ground floor flat, upper floor maisonette and associated landscaping. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Preliminary Matters 2. On 20 July 2021, during the appeal process, the Government published its revised National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework). Both parties have had an opportunity to comment on the revisions where they may be relevant to the case, and any comments received have been taken into account in determining the appeal. Main Issues 3.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision The main issues are: a) The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, with regard to the Camborne Conservation Area and the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, b) The effect of the proposal on the living conditions of the occupiers of neighbouring dwellings to the north, west and south, and c) Whether the proposal would satisfactorily deal with surface water drainage and address flooding concerns. Reasons Character and appearance 4. Section 72 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (LBCA) requires special attention to be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of a conservation area. 5. The Camborne Conservation Area (the CCA) is a large area that covers the commercial core of the town and its suburban residential extensions of the 19th century. Its built environment is of high quality with great diversity across the https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/D0840/W/21/3271334 extensive designated area. The appeal site is within the commercial core character area, which comprises the town’s main streets that were developed to form the commercial, social and institutional core of the settlement. The streetscape is enclosed with tall buildings, tightly packed into narrow plots. Buildings of a smaller scale front secondary streets, but these are still generally tightly packed terraces. The Camborne Conservation Area Appraisal 2010 recognises the value of back lanes in providing an important aspect to the setting of principal streets. The hierarchy of spaces, quality of individual buildings and the well defined streets are positive contributors to the significance of the CA. 6. The appeal site is formed from the rear part of one of the principal town centre plots. It is viewed most readily from Vyvyan Street, which is a secondary street defined by a characterful terrace of small stone cottages along its north side, overlooking the appeal site. Unlike the strong definition to the north side of the street that the terraced cottages provide, built form along the rear of the commercial plots is loose and informal.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision It is mostly modest and largely has an ancillary appearance, secondary to the principal buildings that stand to the south fronting Trelowarren Street. 7. The appeal site is used for parking and has limited built form other than boundary walls. A substantial building stands nearby to the west, which, although used for residential flats has the appearance of a former commercial or industrial building owing to its scale and large openings. This limits views of the site from the west, but the site can be easily viewed from the east, owing to the lack of substantial buildings at the rear of the adjacent plots in this direction. 8. The proposed building would have a prominent narrow form that would be contrary to the linear form of the plots and nearby secondary buildings, which are mostly orientated along the plot lengths. It would appear as a domestic dwelling with no logical connection in terms of appearance or function to the principal building to the south. Furthermore, owing to its scale and broad gable width, it would fail to have an appropriately subservient or ancillary relationship to the terrace fronting Trelowarren Street.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision As a result of its high eaves level and long roof slope it would appear over scaled in the context of the modest cottages of Vyvyan Street. 9. The large building at the rear of No. 71 Trelowarren Street faces out to the side, over the appeal site. The proposed building would appear to largely ignore this existing arrangement by straddling the east face of this nearby building and addressing it with a blank gable. In terms of the proposed material palette, the prominent use of a weather board finish to the walls in an area that is largely characterised by stone and render finishes would appear quite out of place. The appellant suggests that this material would reflect those of a building that previously stood immediately to the east of the site, however this building has been demolished, and cladding is not a material that is commonplace in the area. 10. The proposal would thus cause significant harm to the character and appearance of Vyvyan Street. It would erode the well-established hierarchy between the buildings fronting Trelowarren Street, the ancillary appearance of buildings to the rear of these, and the more modest scale of the cottages https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/D0840/W/21/3271334 fronting Vyvyan Street. For these reasons it would also harm the character and appearance of the CA. 11. The site is within the Camborne and Redruth Mining District of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site (WHS). World Heritage Sites are designated heritage assets of the highest significance1 and are recognised internationally to be of Outstanding Universal Value2 (OUV). 12. The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site Management Plan 2020-2025 suggests that this was the most heavily industrialised tin and copper mining district in the WHS and also contains its most significant urban centres. Camborne is referred to as a mining engineering ‘new town’. The historic legibility of the site, the principal commercial buildings fronting Trelowarren Street and the modest workers cottages of Vyvyan Street are characteristics of the town’s layout that contribute to its character as a mining engineering ‘new town’ and thus the OUV of the WHS. The proposed building is of a scale and form that would be dominant and at odds with the form and appearance of other buildings to the south side of Vyvyan Street. It would therefore cause harm to the WHS.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision 13. The appellant refers to three other nearby developments at the rear of Trelowarren Street. At my visit I saw that two of these are historic and most likely the result of the conversion of an historic building. The building at the rear of No. 65 Trelowarren Street is recently constructed. Although it occupies the full width of the plot it is orientated width a ridge that follows the length of the plot, giving it an orientation that is similar to older buildings to either side. Therefore, the existence of this recently constructed building does not cause me to come to a different view on the acceptability of the appeal proposal. 14. In terms of the Framework the harm to the CCA and the WHS would be less than substantial. Paragraph 202 of the Framework establishes that any harm should be weighed against the public benefits of the proposal. 15. The proposal would provide two residential units that would be well laid out with external space and car parking. The site is located with good access to a range of services and facilities.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision Although the Council is of the view that it can demonstrate over 5 years supply of deliverable housing sites the appellant suggests that the coronavirus pandemic has put further pressure on housing supply. Although there is no evidence before me to support this, the delivery of housing is positive and I am satisfied that the provision of two dwellings in this location is a public benefit that carries significant weight. 16. There would also be modest economic benefits arising from the construction process and the contribution that future occupiers would make to the local economy. However, this would be limited by the relatively small scale of the proposal and the provision of two dwellings that each only have one bedroom. 17. The site has been previously developed; however, it is not clear as to whether it is currently external space that serves the residential element of No. 75 Trelowarren Street. If it does it would not meet the Framework definition of previously developed land. As such I give little weight to this matter. 1 Planning Practice Guidance paragraph 032 Reference ID: 18a-032-20190723 2 The Framework, paragraph 184. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/D0840/W/21/3271334 18. Although the existing block walls are of no value, the site had a tidy appearance at the time of my visit. I am not satisfied that its current appearance is so poor that its redevelopment should weigh in favour of the proposal. Furthermore, the level of additional planting proposed is very modest, and carries little weight. 19. As I have established, the proposal would cause harm to the character and appearance of the CCA and a characteristic of the WHS that contributes to its OUV. Paragraph 199 of the Framework establishes that great weight should be given to the conservation of a heritage asset. In this context I find that the public benefits of the proposal would not be sufficient to outweigh the degree of harm identified. 20. In summary, the proposal would fail to meet the requirements of the LBCA as it would fail to preserve the character and appearance of the CCA. It would also cause harm to a characteristic of the WHS that contributes to its OUV.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision It would thus be contrary to Policies 1, 2, 12 and 24 of the Cornwall Local Plan Strategic Policies 2010-2030 (LP), which together seek to ensure that development proposals maintain and respect local character through high quality design that sustains the distinctiveness and significance of the historic environment. Living conditions 21. The front of the proposed building would be set back into the plot. A parking area to the front as well as the width of the road would provide a significant gap between the front of the proposed building and the front elevation of the cottages on the opposite side of the road. Taking into account the varied outlook that the occupiers of these cottages currently encounter and the existing activity of the road, I am satisfied that the distance would be sufficient to ensure that the proposal would not have a harmful effect on the living conditions of the occupiers of the existing cottages to the north. 22. The existing area to the north of No. 75 Trelowarren Street is however more private and is not overlooked. The proposed building would be close to the north elevation of the existing building and would face towards it with a balcony and second floor rooflight.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision I am however satisfied that, in the event that the appeal is allowed, conditions could be used to ensure that the bathroom window is obscurely glazed and that a screen is erected to prevent overlooking from the balcony in a southerly direction. 23. The proposal would not result in overlooking towards the existing flats at the rear of No. 71 Trelowarren Street, as the side elevation would be blank. However, its broad gable face would be very close to the side elevation of these flats, which contains their principal openings that give the occupants their primary outlook, which is in the direction of the appeal site. The position and scale of the proposed building would have a significant adverse impact on the outlook that occupants currently enjoy from these large east facing windows, to the extent that it would be overbearing. 24. The existing windows of these flats face east, and thus enjoy good levels of daylight and direct sunlight during the first part of the day. The proposed building would reduce the level of light the existing windows provide to the interior of the building, including a significant loss of direct sunlight during the earlier part of the day or when the sun is lower during the winter.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 4

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 4 Appeal Decision APP/D0840/W/21/3271334 25. In summary, the proposal would have a harmful effect on the outlook currently enjoyed by occupants of the existing flats to the west and the level of daylight and sunlight entering these east facing rooms. This would be contrary to Policies 1, 2, 12 and 13 of the LP, which together seek to ensure that development proposals are well designed to demonstrate a physical understanding of location and protect individuals from overshadowing and overbearing impacts. Flooding 26. The Council confirms that the appeal site is within a Critical Drainage Area (CDA). The appellant has provided details of a soakaway design informed by percolation tests carried out on site. However, whilst this may manage flooding at the site satisfactorily, the advice note from the Environment Agency (EA) dated May 2015 confirms that infiltration drainage is not the preferred option within the Camborne, Pool, Illogan and Redruth CDA as clean water entering mine systems can contribute to contaminated water from mines polluting downstream watercourses. The EA advise that there is a presumption in favour of draining surface water to a watercourse or surface water sewer.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — Appeal Decision There is no information before me to demonstrate that other options have been explored. 27. In summary, although the proposal would address flood risk at the site satisfactorily, it would use infiltration drainage that could contribute to contaminated water polluting downstream watercourses. It would be contrary to Policy 26 of the LP and paragraph 174(e) of the Framework, which seek to ensure that development proposals take into account local flood strategies and drainage guidance and contribute to the natural environment by preventing new development from contributing to water pollution. Conclusion 28. There are no material considerations that indicate that the appeal should be determined other than in accordance with the development plan. For the reasons above, I therefore conclude that the appeal should be dismissed.

75 Trelowarren Street, CAMBORNE, TR14 8AL — Cornwall Council — A Tucker INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 5