Planning Appeal Win

Perseverance on the part of Cambridge Consultant Surveyors Januarys has enabled a client to win valuable planning permission to extend his office space after the Council turned down an initial planning application.

Januarys say the result shows that a professionally argued case, relying on planning policy and with a high quality architectural solution, will usually win the day.

Januarys were instructed by a private client to secure permission for alterations to, and an extension of around 4,000 sq ft, to existing office premises at 5 Shaftesbury Road. They carried out the work with local architects Cavaleri Partnership.

The site is in a sensitive location. It is situated within the Brooklands Avenue Conservation Area and adjacent to the Stirling Prize winning housing development, Accordia.

The extension, designed to be in the form of a modern, contemporary building contrasting with the more solid form of the existing Georgian premises, was recommended for approval by Council officers but turned down at Committee by members. They felt that the design of the extension detracted from the local townscape and would cause trees to be lost.

Senior Planner Paul Belton, who dealt with the application, takes up the story. “We’re clearly not in the business of promoting unreasonable or illogical applications but in this case we felt we had a good case so our client decided to appeal.

“Working in conjunction with the Cavaleri Partnership, we submitted a detailed appeal document. We made extensive reference to local and national planning policy and that, along with the undoubted high quality design work, persuaded the Appeal Inspector of the merits of our case. The decision was very clear cut and confirmed that the decision to appeal was correct.

“These were not easy circumstances in which to gain a planning consent, but the potential gain for the client was sufficiently valuable that it was worth pursuing.

“Reasonable development proposals, cogently and professionally argued, will always have a decent chance of success. However, in sensitive locations, one cannot overstress the need for high quality architecture, and there is no doubt that the work done by Cavaleri Partnership strongly ticked that particular box”