560 Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6AQ

560 Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6AQ — Stoke-on-Trent City Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 26 November 2024 by N Bromley BA (Hons) DipTP MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 05 December 2024 Appeal Ref: APP/M3455/W/24/3346335 560 Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 6AQ • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) against a refusal to grant planning permission. • The appeal is made by Mr Ahmad Noory, of AB & CARS LTD, against the decision of Stoke-on-Trent City Council. • The application Ref is 70556/FUL. • The development is described as “storage container (retrospective)”. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Preliminary Matters 2. The appeal site address in the banner heading above is taken from the Council’s decision notice and the appeal form rather than the application form as it is a more accurate description of the location. 3. At the time of my site visit I observed that the storage container was in situ. Therefore, the development is retrospective, and I have dealt with the appeal on that basis. Main Issue 4. The main issue raised by this appeal is the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area. Reasons 5.

560 Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6AQ — Stoke-on-Trent City Council — Appeal Decision The appeal site comprises an existing commercial business consisting of a mix of uses, including car and tyre sales, as well as an MOT testing centre. The site is triangular in shape and occupies a highly prominent location along Hartshill Road. 6. There are a variety of uses occupying neighbouring land and buildings and the site is set within a prevailing urban context, away from houses. However, the immediate locality includes green space and hardstandings, which results in the locality having an open, spacious character. 7. The storage container is set amongst the car sales forecourt on the site frontage, with other buildings within the site being set back from the road. The structure is positioned perpendicular to the road and shrouded in an advertisement hoarding. While the advertisement hoarding camouflages its functional appearance as a container, it also draws attention to the structure https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

560 Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6AQ — Stoke-on-Trent City Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/M3455/W/24/3346335 on the site frontage. As a result, the storage container is conspicuous on the open site frontage, visible from various vantage points along the road. 8. Even within its commercial setting, its position, form, size, and appearance, dominates the site frontage, which is overbearing and jarring within the context of the site and open character of the street scene. As a result, it represents an incongruous development on the frontage. 9. For these reasons, the development is harmful to the character and appearance of the area. Therefore, it fails to accord with Policy CSP1 of the Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent Core Spatial Strategy (2009), which, amongst other things, requires development to be well-designed and respect the character and context of the area. Other Matters 10. The storage container provides essential and secure storage space for the business, which attracts support from the police. However, I have not been presented with any substantive evidence that its position is the only means of achieving secure storage provision within the site.

560 Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6AQ — Stoke-on-Trent City Council — Appeal Decision As a result, I attribute limited weight to this benefit, and this does not outweigh the harm caused by the impact of the development on the character and appearance of the area. 11. My attention has been drawn to a previous appeal decision1 at the site for the proposed installation of an internally illuminated 48-sheet D-Poster advertisement, which was dismissed. The two schemes are not comparable and given this I have determined the case before me on its own merits. Conclusion 12. For the reasons given above the appeal should be dismissed.

560 Hartshill Road, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 6AQ — Stoke-on-Trent City Council — N Bromley INSPECTOR 1 Appeal Ref: APP/M3455/Z/20/3254716 https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2