House and outbuilding demolition at 11 Holmes Holdings, Holmes Road, Broxburn

What was proposed

The application proposed demolishing an agricultural outbuilding and erecting a two-storey house with five bedrooms, a gym and a golf simulator.

“The proposed 2-storey house is ‘T’ shaped with a footprint of 224sqm. The proposed house is 5.5m to the eaves and 8.345m to the ridge line. The principal elevation faces east with the rear projection facing west. A portion of the shed is to be retained on the south side of the building and incorporated into the structure to provide a golf simulator and gym.”

“The house will provide an open plan kitchen/dining and sitting area to the rear, a further sitting room to the front of the house and incorporates a study, cinema room and boot room/utilities. The first floor provides for 5 bedrooms, all with en-suit bathrooms. The house is proposed to be finished with grey concrete tiles, sand stone frontage and white roughcast render to the remainder of the remainder of the building.”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The site is in the countryside belt south of Broxburn and Uphall, includes shared access, and extends into the surrounding field.

“The application site lies within the countryside belt south of Broxburn and Uphall, as identified in the adopted West Lothian Local Development Plan, 2018 (LDP). The site address is 11 Holmes Holdings, Broxburn, approximately 80m south of the A89 and is around 360m west of traffic lights on the A89 to Blyth Road, Broxburn.”

“The application site is approximately 1,975sqm in size, including the shared access, and reduces the existing property’s land area from approximately 3,100sqm to around 1,915sqm, including the shared access.”

Officer report

Earlier applications and enforcement

Earlier proposals included a withdrawn residential application, a refused application, a later approved replacement house, and a pending enforcement case.

“0183/H/12, Extension to house to increase bedroom sizes and provide an en-suite shower room, granted 4/5/12. • 0925/P/20, Planning permission in principle for a 0.18ha residential development, application withdrawn 21/12/20. • 0237/FUL/21, Erection of a replacement house, demolition of outbuildings and erection of an additional house, refused 10/6/21. • 1065/FUL/21, Erection of a replacement house and outbuilding, granted 12/1/22.”

“The previous land owner submitted planning application 0925/P/20 to develop this site for residential use. That application was subsequently withdrawn. The current land owner, and applicant for this application, submitted application 0237/FUL/21 to construct a replacement house and an additional house at this site. That application was withdrawn on 10/6/21 and the decision was not challenged.”

Officer report

What officers recommended

Officers recommended refusal because the site was unsustainable, the house would suburbanise the countryside, and there was no justification for another house.

“The application site lies within the identified countryside belt south of Broxburn and Uphall. This is not a sustainable location for a new house given the site lies south of the main A89 and there are no safe pedestrian crossing points on this busy main road. As a result, the development would be car dependant and does not encourage sustainable transport such as walking and wheeling.”

“The scale and design of the proposed house is out of character with the countryside setting and other existing houses in the area and results in the suburbanisation of the countryside. The proposed house would be an incongruent element in the countryside and would also set an undesirable precedent for additional houses both at this site and at similar locations. There is no locational justification for another house in this location.”

Officer report

What residents said

The neighbouring owners supported an additional single-storey house but objected to the two-storey design, overlooking, construction impacts and unsafe access.

“THE PRINCIPLE OF AN ADDITIONAL DWELLING Our previous comments, in response to the planning applications to build what is now 11 Holmes Holdings (237/FUL/21 & 1065/FUL/21), stated that we had no issue with an additional single- storey dwelling at the proposed location. The site is within a small community of bungalows, and the addition of one more represents only a 20% increase in the number of dwellings.”

“The applicant and ourselves have already improved access arrangements from the single-track road into our properties such that immediate access to the proposed site from the single-track road will not affect us too badly.”

Officer report

Who spoke

The applicant’s agent spoke in support, while the applicant and the applicant’s son attended and were available to answer questions.

The vote

The committee refused planning permission for the reasons set out in the report.

“0293/FUL/26 The committee considered a report (copies of which had been circulated) by the Head of Planning, Economic Development and Regeneration concerning an application as follows: Application No. Proposal Recommendation 0293/FUL/26 Demolition of outbuilding and erection of a house, 11 Holmes Holdings, Holmes Road, Broxburn EH52 5NS Refuse planning permission The committee then heard [name withheld], the applicant’s agent, speak in support of the application.”

Minutes