Appeal Watch: Replacement Garage Allowed within the setting of a grade II listed buidling in the Green Belt in East Hertfordshire

The Appeal Site: Mill House, Ware Park, Ware

This week we received the excellent news that our client’s appeal against the refusal of East Hertfordshire District Council to grant permission for a detached garage and store as a replacement for an existing carport.

The appeal site comprised the grade II listed Mill House situated in Ware Park adjacent to the River Lea. A fascinating property, the 19th century mill building was demolished in the first half of the 20th century, but a wall retaining the channel that fed the mill race along the embankment at the rear of the site, the channel under the original mill building and the low-level parts of the front walls forming the exit route for the water into the river remain. The site is located within the Metropolitan Green Belt.

Refused by the Council on the grounds that the proposed garage would represent inappropriate development in the Green Belt, we made the case that, under the terms of the revised National Planning Policy Framework, the replacement garage would involve the redevelopment of previously developed land and that the development would not cause substantial impact on openness.

In considering the appeal, Inspector L Gardner MRTPI ultimately agreed with our case that, whilst the replacement development would be larger than the building that it sought to replace, it would not have a substantial impact on the openness of the Green Belt. The appeal proposal was thus not considered to be inappropriate development in the Green Belt and the appeal allowed on this basis.

The appeal decision reference is APP/J1915/D/25/3374763.

Please feel free to contact us if you wish to discuss a specific site or development proposal involving development in the Green Belt.