Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 12 November 2024 by Juliet Rogers BA (Hons) MA MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 24 JANUARY 2025 Appeal Ref: APP/L5240/W/24/3347773 Land rear of No. 60, 62 and 62a Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, London SE19 3EW • 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 Richard Rumbles of Barnfield Homes Limited against the decision of the Council of the London Borough of Croydon. • The application Ref is 23/04273/FUL. • The development proposed is the demolition of No. 60 Beulah Hill, erection of 9 x two- storey dwellings with accommodation in the roof, associated car parking, cycle parking, refuse storage, and hard and soft landscaping. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Preliminary Matters 2. A revised Proposed Site Plan1 has been submitted as part of the appeal. This includes minor amendments to the proposed cycle storage arrangement. Whilst not before the Council when the application was determined, the Council have had the opportunity to comment on these amendments.

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Appeal Decision I am therefore satisfied that no party will be prejudiced by considering the revised plan within my determination of this appeal. Main Issue 3. The main issue is the effect of the proposed development on the parking conditions in the area and consequently on highway safety. Reasons 4. Vehicular access to the proposed development would be provided via a widening of the existing dropped kerb driveway to No.60 Beulah Hill (No.60). As a consequence, the length of the Beulah Hill slip road where vehicles could be parked on-street in a safe manner would be reduced. Based on my observations during my site visit and the evidence before me, the proposed access would result in the loss of the equivalent of two car parking spaces; one to the front of No.60 and the other adjacent to No.9 Elizabeth Way (No.9). 5. Although reference is made to the space outside No.9 being substandard in length, the plans within the Parking Stress Survey2 report include this location as a safe place to park. Indeed, on both the survey days, the report identifies a vehicle was present. Additionally, at the time of my site visit, a car was 1 Ref: 62BH.2 P2 rev L 2 Prepared by Alpha Parking, dated 22 March 2024 https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/L5240/W/24/3347773 parked in this space in a safe manner and without impeding the movement of other road or pavement users. 6. Where development would lead to the loss of existing car parking spaces, Policy DM30 of the Croydon Local Plan 2018 (the Local Plan) requires proposals to demonstrate that there is no need for these spaces by reference to occupancy rates at peak times. The results of the parking survey indicate that on both survey days there were unoccupied spaces on the slip road, with further spaces available on Elizabeth Way nearby. 7. However, when assessing the survey results based on the accepted standard of 200-metres walking distance from the site, the existing parking stress exceeds the level where residents will experience difficulties in trying to park close to their homes. Even when viewed in isolation, the parking stress on the slip road is close to this level on survey day 1 and marginally above on day 2. 8. The reduction in on-street spaces combined with the increase in demand for on-street parking resulting from the additional dwellings would, therefore, heighten the parking stress within the survey area and along the slip road.

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Appeal Decision As a result, drivers may be forced to circle around the surrounding streets in search of an available parking space, thereby increasing traffic movements and any associated emissions. Drivers may also be encouraged to park in potentially unsafe and hazardous locations. Such locations could cause conflict between pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers in the area, through blocking driveways, pavements and cycle lanes or restricting the visibility of drivers entering and exiting junctions and driveways. These scenarios would lead to an unacceptable impact on the safety of users of the highway and represent grounds upon which the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework) indicates a development can be prevented or refused. 9. Even if I were to conclude that the previously refused application and subsequent appeal would result in a more severe impact to highway safety, this does not alter the fact that the scheme before me would also be unacceptable. The acceptability of the number of parking spaces proposed does not negate the need to ensure development does not harm highway safety. 10.

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Appeal Decision I conclude that the proposed development would exacerbate the parking conditions in the area, resulting in harm to highway safety. It conflicts with policies T4 and T6 of the London Plan 2021 (the London Plan) and policies DM29 and DM30 of the Local Plan. Together, these policies seek to ensure, amongst other requirements, proposals are not detrimental to the safety of users of a highway and provide access for all. Other Matters 11. During the appeal, the appellant submitted a signed and executed Unilateral Undertaking (UU), dated 26 September 2024 to address the Council’s other reason for refusal. The UU obligates the appellant to pay a sustainable transport contribution and monitoring fee to the Council. Notwithstanding the limited detail before me setting out when and what this contribution will be spent on, or how the size of the sum has been calculated, as I am dismissing the appeal based on the main issue above, it is not necessary for me to consider this matter further. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/L5240/W/24/3347773 12. Social and economic benefits would be derived from the net gain of eight family dwellings, thereby supporting the Framework’s objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes. It would also assist in ensuring a choice of homes is available in the borough, as required by Policy SP2 of the Local Plan. Nonetheless, given the scale of the proposed development, the benefits which would result from the construction and occupation of the dwellings would be modest. The proposed electric vehicle charging points, secure cycle storage and sustainable drainage scheme would provide environmental benefits of a similar scale. Whilst I attribute moderate weight to these benefits, this does not outweigh the significant weight I attribute to the harm and associated development conflict identified above. 13. The evidence before me indicates that the Council are able to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites, therefore the presumption in favour of sustainable development does not apply in this case. Conclusion 14.

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Appeal Decision The proposed development conflicts with the development plan when taken as a whole and there are no material considerations, either individually or in combination, which indicate that a decision should be made other than in accordance with it. Therefore, I conclude that the appeal should be dismissed.

Land rear of No. 60, 62 adn 62a Beulah Hill , Upper Norwood, London, SE19 3EW — London Borough of Croydon — Juliet Rogers INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3