STAT Planning are thrilled to have secured an important Appeal win for our client, successfully obtaining permission for the extension and change of use of a garage into a beauty salon. The client came to us following the refusal and we reviewed the evidence, concluding there was a case for an appeal.
The key challenge? Overcoming concerns about the out-of-centre location and its suitability for a main town centre use. However, our robust Sequential Assessment, embedded within the Appeal Statement, overturned the Council’s refusal—and the Inspector found no policy conflicts! ✅
Adding to the success, the Local Authority’s attempt to claim costs against our client was firmly rejected. The Inspector made it clear: Councils are expected to engage positively and proactively with applicants, as outlined in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Inspector made it clear in the costs that this would include engaging in proactive channels of communication with applications during the planning process. The Council failed to request a Sequential Assessment during the application process—something that could have avoided the appeal altogether.
Some key takeaways include:
✅’New’ information was allowed at the appeal stage and assessed due to the Council not requesting the information during the application stage.
✅The importance of local planning authorities engaging with applicants to look to resolve issues during the application process.
✅Interestingly the Inspector states that pre-application engagement is not a statutory requirement and is at the applicant’s discretion to enter into. We thought this statement was interesting given that on a national level we are being steered to scope out all issues at pre-application stage.
This appeal success highlights the power of the STAT Planning Teams expert planning skills, strategic appeal arguments and persistence!
