The proposed development consisted of a detached bungalow on an infill plot in the Podsmead area of Gloucester.
Council
Gloucester City Council
Issues
The application had been previously refused with the decision notice stating that the development was overly cramped due to the narrow nature of the plot. The applicant resubmitted with a new design but the scheme was still not being supported. Due to this negative stance by the Council, the applicant contacted Plainview Planning for help.
Solutions
Plainview Planning advised the client to withdraw the application in order to avoid another refusal and embarked on preparing a more robust planning submission with a detailed planning statement citing precedents and High Court evidence that added considerable weight to the argument. A full public consultation exercise was organised which consisted of gathering the views of the surrounding residents and collating their responses. The local ward Councillor was contacted and offered her full support to the application. Despite the robust statement and the clear support for the application, the Council refused to view the scheme in a positive light.
The decision was taken to ask the local ward Councillor to call the application into Development Control Committee, as it was felt that presenting to the Committee may give the application more of a chance of gaining approval. The ward Councillor also agreed to speak on behalf of the application and put across the views of her constituents. Plainview Planning argued that the scheme would go some way to alleviating the housing needs shortage in the Gloucester area. The Committee members agreed and the application was approved, despite the case officer’s recommendation for refusal.