125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 11 April 2023 by K Allen MEng (Hons) MArch PGCert ARB an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 27 June 2023 Appeal Ref: APP/B1930/W/22/3309773 125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, St. Albans AL2 2JF • 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 Mr La Riviere against the decision of St Albans City & District Council. • The application Ref 5/22/0317, dated 8 February 2022, was refused by notice dated 25 July 2022. • The development proposed is demolish existing dwelling and construct two detached 5 bedroom dwellings. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Main Issues 2. The main issues are the effect of the proposal on (i) the character and appearance of the area and (ii) the living conditions of the occupiers of No 123 Park Street Lane with particular regard to noise. Reasons Character and appearance 3. The area is suburban with a mix of 1 and 2 storey detached and semi-detached residential properties set back from the highway. Although a relatively built-up area, an open, verdant character is maintained by the prevalence of grass verges and mature landscaping.

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision The appeal site is located on a spacious, green corner plot between Park Street Lane and Slowmans Close. Numerous trees and shrubs within the site maintain the verdant character of the area. Although Slowmans Close is not a wide thoroughfare, the appeal site contributes to the openness and softens the approach to the properties to the rear. 4. Although the proposed dwellings would only be 1.8 meters taller than the existing dwelling and of a similar or lower height to the properties on Slowmans Close and elsewhere in the locality, the proposed footprints would be significantly deeper. Notwithstanding the crown roof design, a much larger proportion of the appeal site would be developed. While the spacing of properties in the area is varied, House B would be positioned adjacent the highway and due to its corner plot position would introduce a substantial built form in a prominent position. Further, House A and House B would be positioned close together, with only a nominal gap provided. When considering the overall mass of the proposal and lack of separation in combination, the https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/B1930/W/22/3309773 dwellings would appear cramped, significantly reducing the openness of the area. 5. Plot sizes in the surrounding area, the spacings between existing built form, the proposed use of similar materials, the need to maintain sufficient distance to No 123, and that the proposed garden and parking areas are said to be within acceptable standards do not lead me to a different conclusion. 6. To accommodate the proposal on site, there would be a loss of mature planting adjacent the highway. While the parties agree that the size of front gardens in the area is varied, the loss of planting would nevertheless harm the verdant character of the area and detract from the softness of this section of Slowmans Close. The appellant suggests that some space is available at the front of the site to provide additional landscaping. However, once space for parking, turning and refuse storage has been accommodated, I fail to see where any meaningful replacement planting could be located which would mitigate the loss. 7. The appellant has sited the paved frontages present on Slowmans Close as key elements of the character and appearance of the area.

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision However, the context of the appeal site’s frontage is significantly different, and the proposal would not be viewed in relation to the paved frontages. In any event, these frontages do not contribute positively to the area, and their presence is therefore not a reason, on its own, to allow unacceptable development. 8. My attention has been drawn to details of other developments in the area which have replaced single dwellings with two. However, I note that elements of their design including their plot, size, positioning, and orientation in relation to the highway are different. The development at No 110 Park Street Lane is on a prominent corner close to the highway, it is semi-detached, and designed with frontages to positively address both Park Street Lane and Burston Drive. No 178 Park Street Lane and No 2 The Mall are also corner plots, however the developments are set back considerably from the highway with green verges. 9. No 110a is closely spaced with No 112 with a tapered arrangement. However, the scale and massing of No 110a is significantly different than the proposal.

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision Although the developments at Nos 164, 183 and 193 may be similar in scale, they are not corner plots, and their mass is primarily experienced from the front. Further, they benefit from larger separation distances and ample planting. Accordingly, the various examples put to me are at sufficient variance that their relevance to the appeal proposal is limited. Regardless, each case must be judged on its own merits and the existence of other developments in the area does not justify the harm identified above. 10. Overall, I conclude that the proposal would significantly harm the character and appearance of the area, in conflict with Policies 69 and 70 of the City and District of St Albans District Local Plan Review (November 1994) (LPR), Policies S3 and S5 of the St Stephen Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2019-2036 (March 2022) (SPNP) where they collectively require that development is in keeping with the character of the area while considering scale, siting, and landscaping. Similarly, it would conflict with the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework), which requires development to be sympathetic to local character and maintain a strong sense of place. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/B1930/W/22/3309773 Living conditions 11. The air source heat pump serving House A is shown adjacent to the site boundary near to No 123. While I accept that the Council requires further details regarding the potential noise generated by it, I am satisfied that the air source heat pump could be adequately positioned while maintaining the living conditions of the occupiers of No 123, subject to appropriate conditions. 12. Therefore, the proposal would not harm the living conditions of the occupiers of No 123 Park Street Lane, with particular regard to noise. It would comply with Policy 70 of the LPR where it requires that development has regard to its setting. It would also accord with the Framework which seeks to ensure a high standard of amenity for existing and future users. Other Matters 13. The appeal site forms part of the setting of the adjacent Grade II listed property, No 131 Park Street Lane. In accordance with the statutory duty imposed by section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, I have had special regard to the desirability of preserving the setting of the listed building in the determination of this appeal.

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision The 18th Century property derives significance from its architectural character and detailing as well as its large verdant plot. Despite the proximity of the proposal, due to the intervening highway and boundary treatments there would be no harm to the setting of the listed building. Planning Balance 14. The Council accepts that it cannot demonstrate a five-year housing land supply as set out in the Framework. The St Albans City and District House Delivery Test Action Plan (December 2021) reports a five-year housing land supply of 2.2 years and the Council do not disagree. Therefore, Framework paragraph 11d is engaged. 15. The Framework requires that developments function well and add to the overall quality of the area; are visually attractive as a result of good architecture, layout and appropriate and effective landscaping; are sympathetic to local character; and optimise the potential of a site and sustain an appropriate amount of development. The proposal would develop a large proportion of the appeal site and, as I have found above, would appear cramped, and significantly detract from the open, verdant character of the area. I consider this conflict to carry significant weight. 16.

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision Nevertheless, the Framework seeks to boost the housing supply and highlights the important contribution small sites can make. This is particularly relevant in this district where 84% of the overall net completions come from small sites, due to surrounding Green Belt constraints. The proposal would provide an additional dwelling in an accessible location on previously developed land. The proposal would contribute towards the housing shortfall; however, one additional house would make little difference to the overall supply of housing. Therefore, I attribute this matter moderate weight. 17. Short term employment would be provided during the construction and in the long term the future occupiers would benefit the local economy and community by helping to sustain the vitality and viability of the existing settlement. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/B1930/W/22/3309773 However, the social and economic benefits of one additional dwelling would be modest. 18. The proposal would utilise air source heat pumps and solar panels. While the Framework encourages the use of renewable energy and recognises that even small-scale projects can provide a valuable contribution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the use of air source heat pumps and solar panels attracts moderate weight. 19. Although the SPNP has been recently adopted and I have found conflict with it, as the Council is only able to demonstrate a 2.2 year supply of housing, the circumstances in Framework paragraph 14 do not apply. Even so, the adverse impacts of the development on the character and appearance of the area would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the policies in the Framework taken as a whole. Therefore, the presumption in favour of development does not apply. Conclusion 20.

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — Appeal Decision Overall, I conclude that the proposal would conflict with the development plan, as a whole, and there are no other material considerations, including the provisions in the Framework and the benefits of the proposal, that indicate that the development should be determined other than in accordance with it. Therefore, the appeal is dismissed.

125 Park Street Lane, Park Street, ST. ALBANS, AL2 2JF — St Albans City Council — K Allen INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 4