19 Palmerston Road 17/01602/FUL

I write on behalf of the Grange Association about the proposed development of this Victorian villa within the Grange Conservation Area. We have five objections to the plans.

  1. The plans are complex but amount to overdevelopment of the site. CEC Householders’ Guidance recommends that “the total site coverage of the new and existing building should not exceed 1.5 times the original villa”. Where several extensions have been built at different times, it would be only logical to include them all as “the new”. Otherwise it would encourage creeping development, multiple small extensions being built at different times to avoid conflict with this important guideline. The original villa appears to have had a simple rectangular footprint. What appears as a traditional outshot is constructed differently and is presumably a later addition. If we look at all the extensions, proposed and existing, including this outshot, their footprint would amount to 96% of that of the original villa, vastly exceeding the guidelines. (Householders’ Guidance)
  1. The additional floor above the existing garage would overshadow 15 Palmerston Road. There are no protected windows on this side of 15 Palmerston Road and no important garden at the side but the new first floor would extend west further than the neighbour’s house so that it would deprive a section of the neighbour’s rear garden of sunlight. (Householders’ Guidance)
  1. 19 Palmerston Road is a traditional stone built villa. An extension clad in timber with a seamed metal roof would detract from the appearance of the villa and in this prominent position, it would be harmful to the character of the conservation area. (Policy Env6)
  1. The Grange Conservation Area Character Appraisal emphasises the importance of green space between villas and warns of the adverse effect that side-extensions could have on the character of the area. The proposed rear extension to 19 Palmerston Road (together with the additional floor on top of the existing extension), when viewed from Beaufort Road is, in effect a side extension. It would fill part of the gap on Beaufort Road between the house and the neighbouring surgery, part-filling an important green space on Beaufort Road. (Policy Env6)
  1. A characteristic of the Grange, highlighted in the Character Appraisal is the stone boundary walls. These plans would make two new openings in the wall in addition to the existing two, spoiling a valuable section of wall along Beaufort Road. (Policy Env6)

For these reasons, we request that planning permission be refused.