Agenda item

To consider retention of car port.

The Chair introduced the item and welcomed two registered speakers, Mrs Valerie Quar and Dr Carl O’Brien.

The Team Leader (AD) provided background on the application. The barn, originally part of Stebbing Farm (a Grade II listed building), was converted to residential use in 1993 and was now a curtilage listed building. The application related to the retention of a timber-framed carport. The Committee were shown photographs illustrating the carport’s visibility from neighbouring properties and public areas.

Mrs Quar advised that she was speaking on behalf of residents of Kessingland Avenue, opposing the carport. The Committee was informed that the carport was out of character with the surrounding area, visually intrusive, and harmful to the heritage setting of Stebbing Farm. Mrs Quar highlighted the significant overbearing impact on the adjacent property at No. 3 Kessingland Avenue and claimed that it violated local and national planning policies.

Dr O’Brien acknowledged the retrospective nature of the application and emphasised efforts to mitigate the structure’s impact by lowering its height and choosing materials that blended with the surroundings. Dr O’Brien apologised to the Committee for the oversight in not obtaining planning permission beforehand and noted that he had fully complied with the Local Planning Authority once informed of the requirement.

The Team Leader (AD) concluded and cited a heritage consultant’s assessment that the carport did not harm the significance of the curtilage-listed barn or the Grade II listed Stebbing Farm. The Team Leader (AD) addressed concerns about the carport’s impact on neighbouring properties and stated that, while it was visible, the structure did not have a substantial overbearing effect that would warrant refusal of planning permission. The Officer Recommendation was to grant retrospective planning permission.

The Chair inquired about the options available to Committee if they were to refuse the application. The Team Leader (AD) responded that the Committee would need to provide clear planning reasons for a refusal and authorise the serving of an enforcement notice. Options could include requiring the applicant to lower the roof or dismantle the carport entirely.

Some Members asked questions related to the height of the carport and the materials used. The Team Leader (AD) clarified that while the barn did not have permitted development rights due to its curtilage-listed status, most properties could build structures up to 2.5 metres in height within two metres of a boundary without planning permission. Regarding the roof materials, the Committee were informed that matching the barn’s clay tiles would have required a steeper, and therefore higher, roof pitch, which had been avoided by using slate tiles to maintain a lower height.

The Head of Planning and Enforcement emphasised that the committee must decide on the application as it stood. If members wished to see the carport's height reduced, they would need to refuse the application and pursue enforcement action. He also clarified that there were no health and safety issues associated with the structure and reiterated the need for the committee to clearly articulate their grounds for refusal and any enforcement action.

A recorded vote* was then taken on the application and it was RESOLVED that retrospective planning permission be granted subject to the following conditions and informatives:

1          The development hereby permitted shall be retained in accordance with the          following approved plans:

            Elevation A0.100; Site Location Plan; Site Layout Plan.

INFORMATIVE

1          Public Information on Planning Applications

Warning: all information provided on your planning application is now publicly available. Individuals and organisations offering their services may contact you. The Council does not endorse or approve any builders, surveyors, trades persons or other supplier, and advises householders to obtain quotes/references, and check the legitimacy of any contractor who contacts them before making payment.

2          Building Regulations

To obtain advice regarding current Building Regulations please contact Hertfordshire Building Control Ltd. by emailing us at building.control@hertfordshirebc.co.uk or phoning us on 01438 879990.

To make a building regulations application please apply through our website portal at https://www.hertfordshirebc.co.uk/contact-us/ payment can be made online or by phoning the above number after the application has been uploaded.  Please phone Hertfordshire Building Control for fees guidance on 01438 879990.

Hertfordshire Building Control can also be contacted by post at Hertfordshire Building Control Ltd, Campus East, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, AL8 6AE.

Once a building regulations application has been deposited with relevant drawings and fee building work may commence.  You will be advised in their acknowledgement letter of the work stages we need to inspect but in most instances these are usually:

                    Excavation for foundations

                    Damp proof course

                    Concrete oversite

                    Insulation

                    Drains (when laid or tested)

                    Floor and Roof construction

                    Work relating to fire safety

                    Work affecting access and facilities for disabled people

                    Completion

Please phone Hertfordshire Building Control on 01438 879990 before 10.00am to ensure a same day inspection (Mon - Fri).

3          Biodiversity Net Gain

Applications where Biodiversity Net Gain is not required as application is for householder permission.

The effect of paragraph 13 of Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is that planning permission granted for the development of land in England is deemed to have been granted subject to the condition "(the biodiversity gain condition") that development may not begin unless:

            a)         a Biodiversity Gain Plan has been submitted to the planning                         authority, and

            b)         the planning authority has approved the plan.

The planning authority, for the purposes of determining whether to approve a Biodiversity Gain Plan if one is required in respect of this permission would be Stevenage Borough Council. 

There are statutory exemptions and transitional arrangements which mean that the biodiversity gain condition does not apply.

Based on the information available this permission is considered to be one which will not require the approval of a biodiversity gain plan before development is begun because the following statutory exemption or transitional arrangement is considered to apply.

1.         Development which is subject of a householder application within the meaning of article 2(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. A "householder application" means an application for planning permission for development for an existing dwellinghouse, or development within the curtilage of such a dwellinghouse for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse which is not an application for change of use or an application to change the number of dwellings in a building.

Where the local planning authority considers that the permission falls within paragraph 19 of Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the permission which has been granted has the effect of requiring or permitting the development to proceed in phases. The modifications in respect of the biodiversity gain condition which are set out in Part 2 of the Biodiversity Gain (Town and Country Planning) (Modifications and Amendments) (England) Regulations 2024 apply.

Biodiversity gain plans are required to be submitted to, and approved by, the planning authority before development may be begun, and, if subject to phased development, before each phase of development may be begun.

If the onsite habitat includes irreplaceable habitat (within the meaning of the Biodiversity Gain Requirements (Irreplaceable Habitat) Regulations 2024) there are additional requirements for the content and approval of Biodiversity Gain Plans.  The Biodiversity Gain Plan must include, in addition to information about steps taken or to be taken to minimise any adverse effect of the development on the habitat, information on arrangements for compensation for any impact the development has on the biodiversity of the irreplaceable habitat. The planning authority can only approve a Biodiversity Gain Plan if satisfied that the adverse effect of the development on the biodiversity of the irreplaceable habitat is minimised and appropriate arrangements have been made for the purpose of compensating for any impact which do not include the use of biodiversity credits.

More information can be found in the Planning Practice Guidance online at  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/biodiversity-net-gain.

* Recorded Vote

For - Councillors Julie Ashley-Wren, Kamal Choudhury, Forhad Chowdhury, Nazmin Chowdhury, Peter Clark, Lynda Guy, Claire Parris, Ellie Plater, Graham Snell, Carolina Veres and Anne Wells.

Against - 0

Abstentions - 0

Absent – Councillors Rob Broom, Akin Elekolusi and Coleen Houlihan