Working on behalf of our client Nest Homes, part of Wessex Water Enterprises, Ken Parke Planning Consultants has secured planning and listed building consent for the conversion of a Grade II listed pumping station to residential use and the construction of 5 new houses on associated land, including the demolition of a covered reservoir.
The scheme was allowed at appeal, and was the practice’s first experience with a ‘virtual’ hearing conducted via video conferencing under new measures which have been introduced by the Planning Inspectorate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The inspector allowed the appeal, agreeing that despite the status of the covered reservoir as a curtilage listed building, the harm in heritage terms would sit at the lower end of less than substantial harm, and that viability evidence presented by the client demonstrated that there was no realistic proposition of the structure being converted to an alternative use.
In allowing the appeal the inspector agreed that the less than substantial harm to the heritage assets would be outweighed by the significant public benefits of providing 7 houses in an area where there is no up to date housing land supply and the ability of the scheme to secure a future use for the listed pumphouse.
The success of this appeal was also made possible by Elaine Milton Heritage and Planning in respect of heritage impacts and Tangent Chartered Surveyors in respect of development viability. The scheme was designed by Ellis Belk
