Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance).

Report of the Executive Director (Public Protection, Planning and Governance) setting out the application for the conversion of a garage to habitable room, replacement of garage door with window, provision of cycle store and bin store and laying of hard surfacing to form additional car parking space and the following details.

Background

The Committee report followed that which had been heard and subsequently approved at Development Management Committee on the 5th January 2017.  The decision had not been issued by reason that an incorrect existing floor plan had been presented alongside the application heard at Committee. 

The existing floor plan presented alongside the application heard at Committee in January 2017 illustrated and annotated three bedrooms.  However this was not the case.  During the course of the application the Officer assigned to the application was informed by the applicant that the property had been further sub-divided to serve four bedrooms.  It was understood from the agent representing the applicant for the application that the property had served four bedrooms since 2008.  A revised existing floor plan was provided, however the case file had not been updated accordingly.

The application was represented to Committee on the basis of an existing four bedroom property rather than an existing three bedroom property.  For clarification, the ground floor had yet to be converted.

The content of the report was identical to that previously presented and resolved at January’s meeting, with the exception of an additional condition.  The additional condition was in relation to a restriction on the number of bedrooms provided by the property. 

Site Description

The application site was located on the north side of Cunningham Avenue and comprised of a two storey maisonette with single garage and private entrance hall at ground floor level and stairs leading to accommodation at first floor.  The first floor accommodation extended over two adjoining garages (not within the applicant’s ownership) and the access road to the parking court.  The property currently serves four bedrooms, all contained at first floor level.

The application property currently benefited from four car parking spaces.  These included: garage, car parking space to the front of the garage and two on-street permit based parking spaces.

The application property did not benefit from any external private amenity space but did include the grass verge frontage along Cunningham Avenue and a narrow strip of land between the west flank elevation of the application property and adjacent garages.

The Proposal

The proposal encompassed the conversion of the garage to a habitable room, replacement of garage door with window, provision of cycle store and bin store and laying of hard-surfacing to form additional car parking space.

Planning permission was required for the replacement of the garage door with a window and the laying of hard-surfacing as the application property was not a dwelling house. It therefore did not benefit from the permitted development rights afforded to dwelling houses.  Furthermore, planning permission was required for the conversion of the garage to habitable accommodation as condition 23 of outline permission: S6/1999/1064/OP highlighted that car parking shall be retained and kept available for its purpose at all times.

Reason for Committee Consideration

The application was presented to the Development Management Committee because Hatfield Town Council had objected to the proposal.

Hatfield Town Councillor James Broach spoke against the application.

It was moved by Councillor P.Shah, seconded by Councillor D.Bennett and

RESOLVED:

(13 voting for, 2 against)

That planning permission for application 6/2016/1917/HOUSE be approved as set out in the report of Officers.