The Lawns, Lee Terrace SE3 PDF 58 KB - Council meetings

Committee PLANNING COMMITTEE (B)
Report Title THE LAWNS, LEE TERRACE, LONDON, SE3 9TB
Ward
Blackheath
Contributors David Knight
Class PART 1 Date 17 JANUARY 2013
Reg. No.
DC/12/80365
Application dated 25.05.2012 and completed 13.07.2012
Applicant
Proposal
Geoff Watkins Architects Ltd on behalf of The
Lawns Blackheath Management Ltd.
The alteration and conversion of lower ground
floor level storerooms, to provide 1 two
bedroom self-contained flat, together with the
construction of a single storey extension to the
north elevation, alterations to the elevation and
the provision of an additional car parking
space.
Applicant's Plan Nos. 222B 222B 01; 222B 02; 222B 20; 222B 03 A;
222B 04 A; 222B 21 A and E-mail received
08/11/2012, Location Plan; Site Plan,
Photographs, Design & Access Statement
incorporating Heritage Statement and
Sustainability Statement.
Background Papers
(1) Case File - LE/405/D/TP
(2) Adopted Unitary Development Plan
(3) The London Plan
1.0 Property/Site Description
1.1 The Lawns consists of two five storey brick apartment buildings arranged on
either side of a central courtyard, set in their own grounds. The grounds include
parking areas and grassed garden areas with shrub planting. The buildings date
from the mid 20th century and feature art deco elements.
1.2 Most of the car parking is to the rear of the site, in the form of surface level car
parking and parking garages. There are also a number of car parking spaces
within the central courtyard, which also provides vehicle access to the garages
and rear parking spaces.
1.3 The eastern of the two apartment buildings possesses a lower ground floor area
in the northern part of the building which is currently used as two storage rooms,
with external access via a short flight of steps. The present application relates to
this lower ground floor area.
1.4 The property lies within Blackheath Conservation Area. There are grade II listed
buildings to the east at 47-61 Lee Terrace.

2.0 Planning History
2.1 10/08/2012 – (DC/12/81098): An application has been submitted for works to the
front boundary treatment of The Lawns. This application has yet to be
determined.
2.2 07/12/2012 - (DC/12/81701): Planning permission granted for the enlargement of
an existing window and the installation of French doors at Flat 48, The Lawns.
3.0 Current Planning Application
3.1 The application is an amended proposal for the conversion of two lower ground
floor storerooms in the eastern block into a two bedroom flat, together with the
construction of a single storey extension.
3.2 As originally submitted, the application also included a proposal to convert a
basement area in the western block into a further flat. This second basement
conversion has been withdrawn from this application in the light of discussions
with the planning officer who had raised concerns about the poor levels of light
and outlook associated with that element that would result.
3.3 The proposed flat will consist of an open-plan living/dining/kitchen area, a double
bedroom, a single bedroom, a bathroom and a cloakroom area.
The areas of the flat are as follows:
Gross internal floorspace: 65m2
Living / dining / kitchen: 23m2
Bedroom 1: 13m2
Bedroom 2: 7.4m2
Cloakroom area (within hallway): 1.7m2
3.4 The flat will be accessed down a flight of four stairs directly from the surface car
park. The stairs, hallway and cloakroom area will be housed within a small new
extension to the rear (north of the building). The extension will have a footprint of
8.5m2, and will be 2.5m high when measured from the external ground level.
3.5 The extension will be built in brickwork to match the existing, and will feature a
canopy over a hardwood entrance door. There will be an obscure glazed ‘link’
element connecting the extension to the existing north west wall of the building.
3.6 New windows will be inserted into the eastern elevation of the property to provide
light to the proposed reception room and main bedroom.
3.7 The internal floor level of the lower ground floor will be lowered by 150mm to
achieve a floor to ceiling height of 2.4m.
3.8 An additional car parking space is proposed within the existing garden area
adjacent to this part of the building, accessed from the existing parking court.
4.0 Consultation
4.1 This section outlines the consultation carried out by the Council following the
submission of the application and summarises the responses received.

The Council’s consultation exceeded the minimum statutory requirements and
those required by the Council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement.
4.2 A site notice and a public notice were displayed in front of the property and
letters were sent to 60 local residents, the local councillors and the Blackheath
Society.
4.3 No responses were received from local councillors or from the Blackheath
Society.
Written Responses received from Local Residents
4.4 One letter of support and three letters of objection have been received from
residents of flats within The Lawns. The letters of objection raise the following
matters:
(1) Lack of parking space, there is already pressure on available parking at The
Lawns.
(2) Disturbance during construction; the steel and concrete frame construction
of the building is such that repair works etc cause significant disturbance,
disruption to garden use.
(3) Proposed alterations would not be sympathetic to design of building.
(4) Loss of storage space.
(Letters are available to Members)
Amenities Societies’ Panel
4.5 The panel provided the following comments: “Given the location at the rear of the
block, no objection subject to brickwork and window materials matching.”
5.0 Policy Context
5.1.1 Section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as
amended) sets out that in considering and determining applications
for planning permission the local planning authority must have
regard to:
5.2 (a) the provisions of the development plan, so far as material to the application,
5.3 (b) any local finance considerations, so far as material to the application, and
5.4 (c) any other material considerations.
5.5 Section 38 (6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) makes it
clear that the determination of planning applications must be made in accordance
with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
5.6 The Development Plan for Lewisham comprises the Core Strategy, Development
Plan Document (DPD) (adopted in June 2011), those saved policies in the
adopted Lewisham UDP (July 2004) that have not been replaced by the Core
Strategy and policies in the London Plan (July 2011). The National Planning
Policy Framework does not change the legal status of the development plan.

National Planning Policy Framework
5.7 The NPPF was published on 27th March 2012 and is a material consideration in
the determination of planning applications. It contains at paragraph 14 a
‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’. Annex 1 of the NPPF
provides guidance on implementation of the NPPF. In summary this states that
(paragraph 211), policies in the development plan should not be considered out
of date just because they were adopted prior to the publication of the NPPF.
At paragraphs 214 and 215 guidance is given on the weight to be given to
policies in the development plan. In summary, this states, that for a period of 12
months from publication of the NPPF decision takers can give full weight to
policies adopted since 2004 even if there is limited conflict with the NPPF.
Following this period weight should be given to existing policies according to their
consistency with the NPPF.
5.8 Officers have reviewed the Core Strategy and saved UDP policies for
consistency with the NPPF and consider there is no issue of significant conflict.
As such, full weight can be given to these policies in the decision making process
in accordance with paragraphs 211, 214 and 215 of the NPPF.
Regional Policy
5.9 London Plan (Consolidated July 2011)
The London Plan policies relevant to this application are
Policy 3.5 Quality and design of housing developments
Policy 6.13 Parking
Policy 7.4 Local Character
Policy 7.8 Heritage Assets and Archaeology
5.10 London Housing SPG (November 2012)
This document sets out guidance and standards relating to design, sustainable
development, renewable energy, dwelling mix, density, layout, neighbour
amenity, the amenities of the future occupants of developments, safety and
security, refuse, noise and room positioning, room and dwelling sizes, storage,
parking, cycle parking and storage, gardens and amenity space, accessibility,
and materials.
Local Policy
5.11 Core Strategy (June 2011)
The Core Strategy was adopted by the Council at its meeting on 29 June 2011.
The Core Strategy, together with the London Plan and the saved policies of the
Unitary Development Plan, is the borough's statutory development plan. The
following lists the relevant strategic objectives, spatial policies and cross cutting
policies from the Lewisham Core Strategy as they relate to this application:
Objective 10: Protect and Enhance Lewisham’s Character
Policy 1 Housing provision, mix and affordability,

14 Sustainable movement and transport
Policy 15 High Quality Design for Lewisham
Policy 16 Conservation areas, Heritage Assets and the Historic Environment
5.12 Unitary Development Plan (2004)
The saved policies of the UDP relevant to this application are:
URB 3: Urban Design
URB 6: Alterations and Extensions
URB 16: New Development, Changes of Use and Alterations to Buildings in
Conservation Areas
HSG 4: Residential Amenity
HSG 12: Residential Extensions
5.13 Residential Standards Supplementary Planning Document (August 2006)
This document sets out guidance and standards relating to design, sustainable
development, renewable energy, flood risk, sustainable drainage, dwelling mix,
density, layout, neighbour amenity, the amenities of the future occupants of
developments, safety and security, refuse, affordable housing, self containment,
noise and room positioning, room and dwelling sizes, storage, recycling facilities
and bin storage, noise insulation, parking, cycle parking and storage, gardens
and amenity space, landscaping, play space, Lifetime Homes and accessibility,
and materials.
5.14 Blackheath Conservation Area Character Appraisal (March 2007)
This document analyses the special character of the conservation area.
6.0 Planning Considerations
6.1 The pertinent planning considerations are the quality of residential
accommodation, the quality of the exterior design of the proposal including the
impact of the proposal on the character of the conservation area, and the impact
of the proposal on neighbouring residential amenity.
Quality of accommodation
6.2 The proposal is considered to provide good quality residential accommodation.
The proposed additional flat would have its own independent entrance from the
rear parking area and would be double aspect. The, rooms are all accessed
from a central corridor and each of the rooms is a practical shape with no
awkward corners or areas of unusable space.
6.3 The 65m2 gross internal floorspace of the flat exceeds the 61m2 figure required
by Policy 3.5 of the London Plan. The double bedroom has an area of 13m2,
exceeding the 12m2 good practice guidance in the London Housing SPG.
Bedroom 2 measures 7.5m2, which falls short of the SPG figure of 8m2 by
0.5m2. The living / dining / kitchen area measures 23m2, 2m2 less than the
25m2 good practice guidance from the same SPG. The ‘cloaks’ area in the
hallway would provide 1.7m2 of storage space. On balance, the size of the
rooms combined with the practical layout of the flat ensures that the proposed flat
will provide a good quality of accommodation for future occupants. Although the

living room and second bedroom floor size falls marginally short of the guidance
found in the London Housing SPG the accommodation is considered acceptable
in this instance due to the constraints of the existing building envelope.
6.4 The size and location of the windows are also considered to provide sufficient
light for future occupants. The proposed flat will be at lower ground floor level,
however the window openings will all be above ground level, and will therefore
not require lightwells for sufficient light and outlook to be provided.
Design
6.5 The external alterations consist of the creation of seven new narrow windows in
the east elevation, and the construction of a small extension at ground floor level
to the north west of the building. Both of these external elements of the proposal
have been modified in response to advice provided by the Council’s urban design
and conservation officers.
6.6 The external alterations are considered to be of a high quality design. The width
of the windows are shown to match the width of the windows on the floor above
(in the locations where there are windows above), and the sill detail is also
shown to match that found above. The windows are proposed to be metal
windows to replicate the existing Crittall windows.
6.7 The ground floor extension is considered to successfully relate to the character of
the original building through its simple design and modest proportions. In addition
the extension will not be seen from the most important viewpoints of the building,
i.e. from the street or from the central courtyard. Conditions are proposed to
require further details of the new windows and requiring a brick sample to be
submitted before commencement of works.
6.8 Subject to approval of the details, the external alterations are considered to
respect the architectural characteristics of the original building and to in turn
preserve the character of the conservation area.
Neighbouring amenity
6.9 The proposal will not result in any issues of overlooking or overshadowing.
6.10 A number of objections have been received raising concerns over the potential
disruption caused during the conversion and construction works. However, these
are not considered to be valid planning objections as some disturbance is
considered unavoidable during any building scheme. Work should be carried out
at reasonable hours, and an informative can be placed on any permission
granted informing the applicant of Lewisham’s construction code of conduct, and
any work which is carried out beyond at unreasonable hours can be dealt with
under environmental health legislation.
6.11 Noise transmission between the newly converted flat and the existing flats will be
controlled by part E of the building regulations.
Parking
6.12 The proposal will result in an increase of in the number of surface level parking
spaces from 39 to 40.

6.13 Neighbours have objected to the proposal on parking grounds, as it is said that
there is currently a lack of parking available for residents. It is considered that it
would be unreasonable to require the present application to resolve the existing
parking issues, however the application should also not exacerbate the current
problems reported by the objectors. With this in mind, it is considered that the
provision of a two bedroom flat coupled with the addition of one parking space
will not have a detrimental impact upon parking in this location.
The site is classed as being PTAL level 4, and therefore is considered to have
good access to public transport. The provision of 1 parking space is in line with
the maximum number of spaces allowed by policy 6.13 Parking in the London
Plan.
6.14 The proposed parking space would result in a small reduction in garden space to
the east of the existing building, however this is not considered to be a significant
encroachment into the garden and can be suitably integrated into existing
landscaping. It is not considered to result in a material loss of useable amenity
space, and is not considered to damage the character of the building.
Sustainability
6.15 The applicant has set out how the conversion shall meet Code for Sustainable
Homes Level 4. The proposals outlined in the document go beyond the Council’s
requirements for flat conversions, and are therefore considered to meet the
requirements of the Core Strategy.
Storage space
6.16 The lower ground floor area is currently used as storage space by the existing
residents. A letter of objection has been received due to the loss of this storage
space. It is not considered that the planning system can protect this informal use,
however the applicant has verbally suggested that storage space will be reprovided
elsewhere on the site.
Flood risk
6.17 The property is not located in a flood risk area, and no flood risk issues are
raised.
7.0 Conclusion
7.1 The proposed conversion of the lower ground floor to provide a two bedroom self
contained flat is considered to provide a high quality, sustainable residential unit
which meets the requirements of the Development Plan as well as the NPPF.
7.2 The design of the small extension is considered to respect the existing
characteristics of the original building, and the proposal is considered to retain
the character of the conservation area.
7.3 The proposal is considered to comply with the adopted transport policies, and will
not result in increased parking problems.

7.4 The proposal is considered to have a minimal impact on neighbouring residential
amenity.
8.0 Summary of Reasons for Grant of Planning Permission
8.1 It is considered that the proposal satisfies the Council’s Land Use and
environmental criteria, and is in accordance with Policies 3.5 Quality and design
of housing developments, 6.13 Parking, 7.4 Local Character, and 7.8 Heritage
Assets and Archaeology in the London Plan (July 2011); Policies 1 Housing
provision, mix and affordability, 14 Sustainable movement and transport, 15 High
Quality Design for Lewisham, and 16 Conservation areas, Heritage Assets and
the Historic Environment in the adopted Core Strategy (June 2011); and Policies
URB 3 Urban Design, HSG 4 Residential Amenity, and HSG 5 Layout and
Design of New Residential Development in the adopted Unitary Development
Plan (July 2004).
8.2 It is considered that the proposal is appropriate in terms of its form and design
and would not result in material harm to the appearance or character of the
surrounding area, or the amenities of neighbouring occupiers. The proposal is
thereby in accordance with Policies 3.5 Quality and design of housing
developments, 6.13 Parking, 7.4 Local Character, and 7.8 Heritage Assets and
Archaeology in the London Plan (July 2011); 15 High Quality Design for
Lewisham, and 16 Conservation areas, Heritage Assets and the Historic
Environment in the adopted Core Strategy (June 2011); and Policies URB 3
Urban Design, HSG 4 Residential Amenity, and HSG 5 Layout and Design of
New Residential Development in the adopted Unitary Development Plan (July
2004).
9.0 RECOMMENDATION: GRANT PERMISSION subject to the following conditions
(1) No new brickwork, including works of making good, shall be carried out
other than in materials, bonding and pointing to match the existing facing
work. No development shall commence on site until a sample of facing
brickwork has been provided and approved in writing by the local planning
authority.
(2) No development shall commence on site until full details (including
materials, specifications, and depths of reveals) of all windows and doors
to be used on the building have been submitted to and approved in writing
by the local planning authority. The development shall be carried out in
accordance with the approved details.
Reasons
(1) & (2) To ensure that the proposed development is in complements existing
building, to safeguard its special architectural and historic character
and to comply with Policy 16 Conservation areas, heritage assets
and the historic environment of the adopted Core Strategy (June
2011) and Policies URB 3 Urban Design; URB 6 Alterations and
Extensions; and URB 16 New Development, Changes of Use and
Alterations to Buildings in Conservation Areas in the adopted Unitary
Development Plan (July 2004).

Informatives
(1) The applicant be advised that all construction work should be undertaken
in accordance with the "London Borough of Lewisham Code of Practice for
Control of Pollution and Noise from Demolition and Construction Sites", or
such codes as are applicable at the time the proposed works are carried
out, available from the Environmental Health Office, Wearside Service
Centre, Wearside Road, Lewisham, London SE13 7EZ Tel No. 020 8314
6789.
(2) The Council engages with all applicants in a positive and proactive way
through specific pre-application enquiries and the detailed advice available
on the Council’s website. On this particular application positive
discussions took place which resulted in amendments to the application
including the reduction of the number of units proposed from two to one.