The appellant holds an extant permission for alterations and extensions to the existing home. While that permission is a “realistic fallback position” that could be implemented, the appellant argued it was unviable due to recently discovering that the existing house has no substantive foundations and a significant amount of work would need to be undertaken to make the existing building sound. The Inspector found no evidence that the approved application would fail to meet the appellant’s need “if appropriate measures were taken”.
The Inspector noted that although the proposed dwelling would be significantly larger than the current dwelling, it would be much the same size once the approved application for extensions and alterations had been implemented.
The proposal for the replacement dwelling conflicted with the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) replacement homes policy, as it would not occupy the footprint of the existing home, and would instead be constructed further away from the road.
In conclusion the Inspector found that “no substantive evidence has been submitted to demonstrate that the existing dwelling and previous proposal could not achieve high levels of sustainability and energy efficiency if appropriate measures were taken.”
The Inspector therefore found the proposal to be unacceptable due to the conflicts with SWDP.
14 August 2018