23 Lancut Hill, RUGBY, CV23 0JR

23 Lancut Hill, RUGBY, CV23 0JR — Rugby Borough Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 15 August 2022 by K Ford MSc MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 21 September 2022 Appeal Ref: APP/E3715/W/22/3298343 23 Lancut Hill, Rugby CV23 0JR • 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 Andrew Bushell against the decision of Rugby Borough Council. • The application Ref R22/0077, dated 26 January 2022, was refused by notice dated 23 March 2022. • The development proposed is removal of front hedge and existing landscaping, installation of block paving and creation of additional car parking spaces. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Preliminary Matter 2. I have used the description of development contained in the Council’s decision letter above as it more succinctly describes the details of the proposal than that which is contained in the planning application form. Main Issue 3. The main issue is the effect on the character and appearance of the area. Reasons 4. The appeal site is a 3 storey detached dwelling within a row of dwellings fronting onto designated open space.

23 Lancut Hill, RUGBY, CV23 0JR — Rugby Borough Council — Appeal Decision An access drive running in front of the dwellings stops short of No 23, which has soft landscaping and pedestrian paving up to the front door. Generally, the area has an open spacious character. To the rear of the property is a detached garage and additional off road parking which is accessed between 2 properties on Lancut Hill. 5. The existing landscaping to the front of the dwelling provides an attractive visual break that, in conjunction with the positioning of No 23 forward of the predominant building line, separates Tuthill Furlong and Lancut Hill. 6. Whilst the existing hedgerow on the open space would provide some screening of the proposal, it’s long term retention cannot be guaranteed. In any event, even with the hedge in place the parked cars in front of the dwelling would be visible from certain viewpoints on Lancut Hill. At the time of my site visit there were some cars parked in front of dwellings that front onto the open space on Lancut Hill. I consider them to be harmful to the character and appearance of the area. Additional car parking to the front of No 23 would further exacerbate https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

23 Lancut Hill, RUGBY, CV23 0JR — Rugby Borough Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/E3715/W/22/3298343 this harm. The proposed landscaping as part of the scheme would do little to overcome this. 7. The development would harm the character and appearance of the area and therefore would conflict with Policy SDC1 of the Rugby Local Plan 2011-2031. Amongst other things the policy requires new development to respond to the character of the area and add to the overall quality of the area. Other Matters 8. The appellant has provided details of the personal circumstances of the family in support of the proposal. Whilst the circumstances are acknowledged, and the benefits of additional parking at the property are noted, they do not outweigh the harm to the character and appearance of the area that has been identified. 9. Whilst the appellant has cited examples of other changes to hard and soft landscaping elsewhere in the wider development, the circumstances are different to the one before me as they are in different locations where the character is different and therefore the impact is not the same. In any event, each case is determined on its own merits and my assessment is based on the information before me. 10.

23 Lancut Hill, RUGBY, CV23 0JR — Rugby Borough Council — Appeal Decision Although the appellant has made reference to other changes to dwellings in the area that are alleged to have taken place without planning permission, little detail has been provided on specific instances. In any event, such matters are outside the scope of my consideration in the determination of this appeal. 11. The appellant has identified that the scheme would not harm the living conditions of the occupants of neighbouring properties and would reduce usage of the rear access to their property. Even if this were the case it would not outweigh the harm to the character and appearance of the area. Similarly, the absence of objections from the Highways Authority and Ecology do not make the development acceptable overall. Conclusion 12. For the reasons identified, I conclude that the appeal should be dismissed.

23 Lancut Hill, RUGBY, CV23 0JR — Rugby Borough Council — K Ford INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2