Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG

Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG — Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 5 December 2024 by Lynne Evans BA MA MRTPI MRICS an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 20 December 2024 Appeal Ref: APP/H1705/W/24/3347874 Brook Cottage, New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley RG26 3AG • 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 A Neilson against the decision of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. • The application Ref is 24/00226/FUL. • The development proposed is conversion of existing stables to garden storage, bicycle storage and a home office. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Preliminary Matters 2. Planning permission was granted by the Council under its Ref: 23/00437/FUL for the erection of a new dwelling with a detached garage to the front of the dwelling. Condition 1 of that permission required the development to be carried out in accordance with the approved plans and the approved plans showed the removal of an existing stable block at the front of the site. No separate condition was attached to the planning permission in this regard.

Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG — Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council — Appeal Decision The house and garage now appear substantially complete and the former stable block remains in situ. 3. The National Planning Policy Framework (Framework) was revised in December 2024. I do not consider that there are any material changes in the Framework, pertinent to this appeal proposal. It is not therefore necessary to seek the views of the Appellant or the Council on the revised Framework. Main Issue 4. The main issue in this appeal is the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the local area. Reasons 5. The appeal site relates to a parcel of land on the north side of New Road which runs through the small rural settlement of Pamber Green. A new dwelling and separate detached garage are nearing completion, following the grant of planning permission under the Council’s Ref: 23/00437/FUL. Access to the site is from the Public Right of Way footpath (Pamber:20) which runs northwards off New Road along the western side of the appeal site. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG — Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/H1705/W/24/3347874 6. The application seeks to retain the existing former stable block, which sits at the front of the site, for use for garden storage, bicycle storage and a home office ancillary to the dwelling house permitted. There would be very limited external changes to the former stable block and the submitted application forms indicate no external materials required. 7. There is development further to the east and more immediately to the west of the appeal property, primarily on the north side of the road, and interspersed with open farming and equestrian land, together with a farm complex broadly opposite the site. The individual properties are varied in scale and design. With a few exceptions where there is some limited backland development, the houses are generally in a linear pattern and set back from the road frontage and there is a verdant appearance to the character and appearance of the local area, primarily assisted by the set back of houses and generally open frontages and the open fields in between built development. 8. The new garage relates to the design of the main house, both of which are almost complete, and present a unified composition.

Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG — Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council — Appeal Decision However, and although more modest in height, the former stable block relates poorly to the main house and its garage in terms of its alignment and siting within the plot, as well as its form and materials. Whilst a numerical assessment in terms of plot ratio might suggest a low proportion of ground covered by buildings, I consider that as currently seen and following completion of the development being undertaken, including landscaping, the retention of the former stable block would result in a cluttered and over developed appearance to the front of the site, out of character with the more open frontages found in the local vicinity. Although it would be partly screened from views because of the frontage vegetation along New Road, the stable block is and would be seen from the entrance to the site off the Public Right of Way. 9. Whilst the stable block may have been in existence for some number of years, the character and appearance of the site has materially changed with the permission for and construction of the new house and garage.

Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG — Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council — Appeal Decision Stable blocks are found within the local area, but the appeal proposal before me would no longer be serving its original purpose and would be seen as an additional ancillary building, which would appear incongruous and visually discordant in the context of the new domestic house and garage. 10. I therefore conclude that the retention of the former stable block and its use for purposes ancillary to the main house would result in a cluttered and discordant appearance to the site which would be detrimental to the character and appearance of the local area. This would conflict with Policies EM1 and EM10 of the Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan 2011-2029 (May 2016), the Council’s Design and Sustainability Supplementary Planning Guidance 2018 and the Framework and in particular Section 12, all of which amongst other matters seek a high quality of design which respects the character and appearance of existing buildings and the local context. 11. The Appellant has drawn my attention to other developments that have been permitted in the vicinity which he considers set precedence for the proposal before me.

Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG — Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council — Appeal Decision Each proposal must be assessed on its individual merits but to the extent to which the information has been provided to me, I have taken them into account. However, they do not appear to me to be comparable with the proposal before me and do not persuade me to a different view. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2 Appeal Decision APP/H1705/W/24/3347874 Conclusion 12. The proposal would not accord with the development plan and there are no other material considerations to override this finding. For the reasons given above and having regard to all other matters raised, including in representations, I conclude that this appeal should be dismissed.

Brook Cottage New Road, Pamber Green, Tadley, Hampshire, RG26 3AG — Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council — L J Evans INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3