2A Church Road, Bengeo, HERTFORD, SG14 3DP

2A Church Road, Bengeo, HERTFORD, SG14 3DP — East Hertfordshire District Council — Costs Decision Site visit made on 20 January 2026 by S Simms BSc (Hons) MA MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 23rd April 2026 Costs application in relation to Appeal Ref: APP/J1915/W/25/3376145 2A Church Road, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG14 3DP • The application is made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, sections 78, 322 and Schedule 6, and the Local Government Act 1972, section 250(5). • The application is made by Mr & Mrs A & J Yendall for a partial award of costs against East Hertfordshire District Council. • The appeal was against the refusal of planning permission for the demolition of existing house and erection of a new detached, replacement dwelling with air or ground source heat pump and replacement greenhouse. Decision 1. The application for an award of costs is refused. Reasons 2. Parties in planning appeals normally meet their own expenses. However, the Planning Practice Guidance advises that costs may be awarded against a party who has behaved unreasonably and thereby caused the party applying for costs to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal process. 3.

2A Church Road, Bengeo, HERTFORD, SG14 3DP — East Hertfordshire District Council — Costs Decision In the case of appeals determined via written representations, the costs application must be normally made in writing by any party no later than the final comments stage. However, in this instance, the circumstances to which the application relates arose after that stage and I have therefore exceptionally accepted it. 4. The Council suggested a planning condition requiring the proposal to be built as a self- or custom-build dwelling. This was to ensure that it would meet the exemption claimed from biodiversity net gain requirements. However, such a condition is unlikely to be enforceable and so I invited views on a way forward. 5. This resulted in the applicant submitting a unilateral undertaking to secure the same objective as the suggested condition. The applicant considers the Council behaved unreasonably in not having a standard template for such an undertaking and thereby causing them to incur legal costs in drafting one. 6. Whilst I sympathise that biodiversity net gain is a relatively new area of law, it is for applicants and appellants to justify exemptions from its requirements and, more generally, to bear their own and the Council’s reasonable legal costs in drafting planning agreements or undertakings.

2A Church Road, Bengeo, HERTFORD, SG14 3DP — East Hertfordshire District Council — Costs Decision The claim therefore fails.

2A Church Road, Bengeo, HERTFORD, SG14 3DP — East Hertfordshire District Council — S Simms INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate