Four three-bedroom homes at Old London Road, Washington

What was proposed

The application proposed four two-storey three-bedroom homes in a terrace, with parking, private gardens, acoustic fencing and an ecological buffer zone.

“The application seeks full planning permission for the erection of 4no. 3-bed dwellings that would be arranged in a terrace layout facing west. The proposed dwellings would be set back from the road frontage and would extend along a staggered build line, with private amenity space provided to the rear/east.”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The site was unmaintained grassland outside a built-up area, beside the A24 and near existing homes and wider sporadic development.

“The application site to the east of Old London Road, outside any built-up area boundary. The site is therefore located within a countryside location in policy terms.”

“The site comprises an area of unmaintained grassland with a belt of trees located along the eastern boundary. The site is bound by the A24 to the east, with residential dwellings located immediately to the south and west of the application site.”

Officer report

Earlier applications and permissions

Earlier proposals for homes on the site were refused, while outline permission had been granted for nine homes immediately to the north.

“WS/32/01 Erection of 2 semi-detached dwellings & access (outline) Site: Land Adj 6 Montpelier Cottages Old London Road Washington Application Refused on 18.10.2001”

“WS/28/02 Erection of 3 dwellings and access Site: Land Adj Montpelier Cottages Old London Road Washington Application Refused on 24.12.2002”

Officer report

What consultees said

Highways, ecology, Natural England and landscape officers raised no objection, subject to details or conditions, while environmental health requested stronger noise and ventilation information.

“HDC Environmental Health: Comment A particular concern is that the garden areas are to be located on the eastern side of the proposed dwellings adjacent to the A24 as opposed to the previous scheme that located amenity areas to the west where they were shielded from the road noise.”

“Ecology Consultant: No Objection subject to conditions Note from the Preliminary Ecological Appraisal V4 (Phlorum Limited, September 2025) that Building B1 (small wooden shed) and Building B2 (small wooden log shed) both have negligible bat roost potential. Also note that three trees have Potential Roost Features for Individual bats (PRFs-I), but that all three trees will be retained. Therefore agree that no further surveys for bats are required.”

Officer report

What people said

Objections concerned privacy, noise, pollution, access, traffic, parking, trees and drainage; the parish council objected to countryside development and plan conflict.

“Representations: 2 letters of objection were received from 2 separate addresses, and these can be summarised as follows: - Impact on privacy - Noise, dirt, dust pollution - Impact on access to rear - Increase in traffic - Access track to rear is too narrow - Impact on sewage drain - Ash trees to the northern suffering from Ash Die-Back - Poor state of repair of road - Impact on parking…”

“Also note the concerns raised by HDC Environmental Health regarding road traffic noise, air pollution and the need for ventilation that does not rely on opening windows thereby ex- posing residents of the new development to traffic noise and air pollution, the HDC Arboriculture concerns regarding the lack if a tree survey or arboricultural impact assessment having been submitted and concerns regarding the health and size of trees around the proposed development site, and…”

Officer report

Who spoke

One member of the public spoke in support, and ward members spoke about the proposal, with one ward member not voting.

Members’ concerns

Members focused on possible A24 noise and ventilation impacts and requested further internal and external mitigation details and a verification report.

“Members raised concerns regarding possible noise and ventilation impacts from the nearby A24; therefore, it was noted that further details could be requested for approval as part of the Residential Noise Assessment to mitigate the noise for internal and external areas of the dwellings. An additional condition was…”

Minutes

The committee vote

The committee resolved to approve the application in accordance with the officer recommendation, subject to updated and additional noise conditions.

“That DC/25/1480 be approved in accordance with the Officer recommendation subject to:”

“- Condition 14 being updated to require the submission of the internal and external noise mitigation measures for approval; and - An additional condition requiring the submission of a post-completion verification report to demonstrate the noise mitigation measures meet the required level of performance required by condition 14.”

Minutes