Planning success for a granny annexe in Surrey
We at NAPC were instructed by a retained client to provide planning consultancy services for one of their customers who was planning an annexe project in their rear garden.
The annexe was for the applicant’s mother who is registered blind and who desperately needed the help and support from her family, so the client was keen to move quickly.
However, once the application was submitted the LPA arboricultralist had concerns that the proposal could impact upon a protected Cypress tree in the neighbouring garden.
In addition it came to light that some of the family’s garden was not within their legal ownership due to a boundary fence being erected in the wrong location.
We drew up a planning strategy and next steps in order to avoid a refusal, including instructing one of our third party arboriculturist experts and undertaking further investigation into the land ownership issues.
The Arboricultural Impact Assessment was carried out, and it seemed that the proposal would in fact encroach marginally into the root protection zone of the protected Cypress tree.
After some negotiation with the LPA arboriculturist, we were able to agree on the use of specialist foundations that would limit any impact on the roots. This operation would be overseen by the project arboriculturist in case any larger roots were encountered, ensuring these could be removed professionally.
NAPC undertook additional due diligence into the cause of the boundary issues. It soon became apparent that, due to a recent development to the rear of the application site, the developer had erected a new boundary fence along the new access road which didn’t follow the ownership boundaries. We recommend that the proposed annexe be slightly moved and the red line on the planning drawings be amended to reflect the correct boundary position.
After all our input, the planning application for a substantial 100 sq.m. annexe was granted permission despite the initial issues.
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