Planning Strategies

An Applicant had received a negative response to their request for Pre-Application advice, and had been told by four Planning Consultants that their proposed development was impossible.

The strategy concerned the division of an isolated pair of semi-detached properties, and their division into two detached dwellings each situated within their own plots.

Local policy and the Local Planning Officers considered the Applicant’s initial enquiry to run counter to Local Policies restricting the rebuilding of dwellings of any greater volume than the original dwelling, while Landscape Officers considered the proposals, in particular changes to the existing’s buildings symmetry to constitutes harm to the Cotswold AONB.

We undertook an initial comprehensive appraisal which determined that, despite initial protestations, an avenue did indeed exist using a strategic, multi-staged approach. Our strategy, which involved multiple smaller applications, opened up the site to allow a final, cumulative application which incorporated the previous decisions as fall-back positions to support the case and allowed the principle of the development to break away from otherwise restrictive policy. In short, we ‘Uri Geller’ed’ local policy to achieve the Applicant’s goal.