Fuller Long were approached after the owner had received Council refusal for the conversion of a former day clinic with flat above, to a daycare nursery for up to 27 children, on the grounds that it would cause harm to neighbours and also lead to issues of highways safety. Having fully assessed the issues an appeal was recommended. In doing so we advised that a revised parking layout should be proposed which eliminated the County Highways Authority’s objections to a proposed safety hazard as well as a seemingly unworkable parking layout.
Unfortunately, whilst the Highways team agreed the new parking and access, the Inspector felt that this ought to be assessed under a new application. But in doing so he accepted our detailed arguments that the impact of the proposed nursery would be less than the extant clinic use.
We advised on a quick resubmission with appropriate highways support, which has finally secured planning permission for the use of the site, a use that will bring back into beneficial use a vacant corner site in a suburban area of Sunbury and provide much-needed childcare provision in the locality, provision that we were able to gain written support for in discussions with the Local Education Authority at County level. Again, this demonstrates that persistence, with the right professional advice, will pay dividends against a Council that is basing decisions on unproven assumptions and data.
