Replacement dwelling in the Green Belt, Staffordshire

Our solution

Rapleys acted as lead consultant in the planning process. This included the appointment and management of the consultant team, including the architect, landscape architect, sustainability consultant and ecologist. Rapleys led the negotiations with the Local Planning Authority, including extensive pre-application consultation.

In total Rapleys secured four consents and permissions on behalf of the client which were critical to the overall case for development in the green belt;

• Lawful Development Certificate to establish the residential curtilage of the existing dwelling;
• 2 x Lawful Development Certificates to establish the scale of development that could be built under permitted development rights (the fall back position);
• Full planning permission for the replacement dwelling.

Through local consultation, over 30 letters of support for the proposal were secured, whilst no objections were received. The proposal was highly commended by the council’s design and ecology officers.

The proposal is of the highest quality design and will provide significant sustainability and ecological benefits. The planning case promoted by Rapleys cited that whilst the development was ‘inappropriate’ in the green belt in NPPF terms, very special circumstances existed in the form of design quality, sustainability and ecological benefits, and that the impact of the new dwelling on the green belt was no greater than the ‘fall back’ position that had been established. This case was accepted by the officer and the replacement dwelling was approved, under delegated powers, by the council.

Full planning permission was secured for a replacement dwelling in the green belt, contrary to national and local planning policy. The planning case put forward by Rapleys, in the form of the fall back position and very special circumstances, was critical to the success of the application, and was accepted by officers.