The Denes, Worcestershire
“We had lived on a 4 acre plot in Ombersley for many years. Roughly once every decade we would put our toe in the water trying to gain planning permission – but to no avail. In 2014 we were fortunate enough to come across David. He explained there was a small window of opportunity whereby the district council had not yet hit their housing quota, but we would need to move fast. Having tried for multiple builds, we finally settled on a planning application for a single beautiful new build within the 2 acre site.
“We were successful and we put this down to David’s experience and clarity of vision. In short he knew: what was achievable and when; how best to deal with local planning folk and how to communicate with us, the landowners, providing a succinct summary of the options and hence ensuring a speedy response which all were comfortable with.
“David is a focused individual at the top of his profession, we would certainly not risk using anyone else to deal with something as important as a planning application.”
Simon & Vel Williams
The property
The Denes lies partly within but mainly outside of the settlement boundary for Ombersley, Worcestershire.
Objective
The task was to secure planning permission for a new dwelling in the extensive grounds of The Denes on land beyond but adjacent to the settlement boundary.
Strategy
Ordinarily, planning policy would militate against the provision of a new dwelling in this location. However, there was a lack of a 5 year supply of housing land within Wychavon district. Coupled with this, Ombersley is a highly accessible and sustainable village. These two factors meant paragraph 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework provided a ‘tilted balance’ in favour of granting planning permission.
Outcome
Albeit not initially, this position was eventually acknowledged during extensive pre-application discussions with Wychavon District Council. This paved the way for the preparation of a planning application for a highly sustainable and contemporary dwelling. It received planning permission only 6 months after commencing pre-application discussions.
The specialist team involved
To strengthen our case to secure planning permission on this project we worked with the following expert consultants:
- Architect: Communion Architects
- Highways/transportation consultant: Savoy Consulting
- Ecologist: Star Ecology