The High Court has ruled that planning permission for a property extension in a conservation area which, according to the local inspector’s report, would ‘preserve’ but not ‘enhance’ the area could not be overturned.
The Local Structure Plan stipulated that new development in the area should ‘preserve and enhance’ it and the granting of planning permission was contested on the grounds that the proposed extension did not do both things. In the Court’s view, if the Listed Buildings Act 1990 had intended to provide a basis for stopping developments which do not enhance conservation areas, it would have stated so in clear terms. Accordingly, the proposed extension was allowed.
Preservation or Enhancement?
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