Kingslodge

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The PLANNING station secured planning permission, through an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, after a long hard fight with Durham County Council in respect of a 29 bedroom ‘vertical’ extension to The Kingslodge Hotel, Waddington Street, Durham.

The Council refused planning permission for the development, as expected, following pre-application advice that it could not support the proposals. The Council refused consent for a myriad reasons relying on host of local plan policies in its decision.

Kingslodge was a former listed building and is within the City of Durham Conservation Area. It is also on the edge of the Green belt and sits at the entrance of Flass Vale Nature Reserve. The proposals faced some stiff opposition from the Council's Design and Conservation officer, Highways team and the Rights of Way officer and local residents.

I worked in collaboration with Garry Hodgson, Architectural Technologist, based in Shotley Bridge, who designed the extension. His plans were supported by my design and access/heritage statement. I had also won several arguments in planning law, largely establishing the principle of the development as a precursor to the submission of the application. This background put us in an ideal position to handle the appeal following the Council’s refusal.

Garry Hodgson produced some fantastic 3D models (roll over images below) overlain on photographs of the existing hotel from various viewpoints. This left no doubt of what the development would look like once completed and counteracted several of the Council’s assertions.

I worked hard on the preparation of an appeal statement aimed at convincing the Planning Inspectorate that the appeal should be allowed and planning permission granted for the development. I lodged the appeal electronically through the Planning Portal.

An appeal site visit was undertaken on 6 August 2012 and the Planning Inspectorate's appeal decision was issued on 24 September 2012. The appeal was allowed and conditional planning permission granted for the development.

A resounding victory

We won on nearly every point making the balanced judgement of the Inspector easy, or so we would think.

This is a significant win likely to increase the value of the property by hundreds of thousands of pounds. My client is understandably happy with the outcome and I look forward to watching progress on site.