12 Swaffham Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, CB25 0AN

12 Swaffham Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, CB25 0AN — East Cambridgeshire District Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 22 July 2025 By Terrence Kemmann-Lane JP DipTP FRTPI MCMI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 11 August 2025 Appeal Ref: APP/V0510/W/25/3362948 12 Swaffham Road, Burwell, CB25 0AN • 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 and Mrs M L Smith against the decision of East Cambridgeshire District Council. • The application Ref is 24/01242/FUL. • The development proposed is the erection of a 3 bedroom detached bungalow and associated works. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Main Issue 2. The main issue in this case is the effect of the proposed bungalow on the character and settlement pattern of the area. Reasons 3. Swaffham Road is a main road out of the village, to the south-west of the main part of Burwell. It is primarily a road with linear single depth development, mostly of detached dwellings set just back from the highway. To a degree this changes immediately after No.12, where several bungalows and houses are set back some distance from the road.

12 Swaffham Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, CB25 0AN — East Cambridgeshire District Council — Appeal Decision Behind the frontage of this part of Swaffham Road there is development in depth, with development on Station Gate and Railway Close immediately behind the appeal site and its neighbours. However, these developments do not affect the character of Swaffham Road. 4. The appeal site is part of the garden of No.12 Swaffham Road which is predominantly lawn with trees, and hedgerows and shrubs along the side and rear boundaries. There is an existing access from Swaffham Road serving a single garage and parking for the host dwelling. On the north-eastern boundary, the bungalow at No.10 Swaffham Road abuts the boundary fence, and on the south- western boundary is the garage to No.14. To the rear of the site are dwellings situated on Station Gate and Railway Close, and large 3 storey dwellings to Ellis Gardens abutting the north-western corner of the site. 5. Policy ENV2 of the East Cambridgeshire Local Plan 2015 (as amended 2023) makes it clear that all new development proposals will be expected to respect the density and character of the surrounding area, whilst ensuring that the location, layout, scale, form, massing, materials and colour of buildings relate https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

12 Swaffham Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, CB25 0AN — East Cambridgeshire District Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/V0510/W/25/3362948 sympathetically to the surrounding area and each other, as well as creating quality new schemes in their own right. 6. The proposal would include the demolition of the existing rather small single garage to create a new driveway. The proposed layout includes two parking spaces for the proposed bungalow and the retention of two parking spaces for the host dwelling. The landscaping proposed includes the planting of trees, shrubs and a hedgerow separating the site from the host dwelling. 7. The new drive to provide access to the proposal would be readily apparent from the highway, leaving the host dwelling somewhat squeezed towards the long front gardens of Nos 10 and 8. The proposed bungalow would be seen across the wide driveway serving these 2 dwellings. The result would be an intrusion into the present character of this part of Swaffham Road. 8. To the rear of the site, the land is hemmed in by the bungalow at No.10, which is built close to the boundary. The rear private open amenity area for the proposed bungalow would have the curtilages of 4 houses in Ellis Gardens to the south-west, and to the north-west, houses on Railway Close and Station Gate.

12 Swaffham Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, CB25 0AN — East Cambridgeshire District Council — Appeal Decision These more recent developments are at a higher density, but this case is not a matter of density, but a matter of the grain of the general locality. The proposed bungalow would be an incongruous element in the prevailing linear character of Swaffham Road, and would be at odds with general scale and form of the wider area. It would amount to overdevelopment of the site, out of sympathy with its surroundings. 9. In coming to this conclusion, I accept the general desirability of using land efficiently, which is encouraged by the National Planning Policy Framework, but of itself this is not an overriding matter. I have looked at the features that are illustrated on drawing No.P-100-02, but the only one that might be of relevance is at Nos.38 and 40. However, I have no knowledge about the circumstances that led to that development. At my visit I saw the entrance to the development at 2c off of High Street, but this appears to be in entirely different circumstances to the appeal proposal and to have no relationship with the matter before me. 10. For the reasons that I have set out above, the appeal will be dismissed.

12 Swaffham Road, Burwell, Cambridgeshire, CB25 0AN — East Cambridgeshire District Council — Terrence Kemmann-Lane INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2