Agenda item

Purpose

The purpose of this report is to consider the recent requests from Town and Parish Councils for Article 4 directions on commercial premises in the Borough.  Under existing permitted development rights, certain types of commercial use can be changed to residential use without requiring the submission of a planning application.  However, Article 4 directions allow councils to remove permitted development rights for specific changes of use/development on specific sites so that a planning application is required.  This report considers the benefits and risks for the Council of pursuing Article 4 directions.

Recommendations

It is recommended to the Executive that:

1)    An Article 4 direction to withdraw permitted development rights for a change of use from commercial to residential for just one commercial area that has been requested by a town/parish council to allow Waverley to assess its success in protecting the vitality and viability of the commercial area be prepared;

2)    the commercial area that the article 4 direction is to be prepared for is an area located around Beacon Hill Road, Beacon Hill, Haslemere - the specific area to be determined by the Head of Planning Services in conjunction with the gathering of specific evidence on the impact of the loss of commercial premises to residential on the vitality and viability of the commercial area; and

3)    the preparation is for a non-immediate article 4 direction.

Matthew Ellis, Principal Planning Officer, outlined the proposal that the Council issue an Article 4 direction to remove permitted development (PD) rights for specific changes of use/development on specific sites, so that a planning application would be required and a formal determination by the Council.

Waverley’s Town and Parish councils were concerned that a number of commercial properties had had been lost to housing, and there was a perception that this had a detrimental impact on commercial areas in town and local centres and impacted on other employment areas such as business parks.

The perception was exacerbated by the use of PD rights that allowed a change of use from business/shop use to residential without the need for a planning application. The PD rights meant that the Council as the Local Planning Authority was not able to consider the impact of the change of use against planning policies, nor mitigate against the impact of the change of use.

Both Cranleigh Parish Council and Haslemere Town Council had written to ask the Council to consider making Article 4 directions so that a full planning application would be required for a change of use from commercial to residential.

Officers outlined the process for making Article 4 directions, the arguments for and against, and the options available to the Council. Officers had considered the requests, and recognised that the Council’s objectives around place-shaping and the importance of commercial areas to Waverley’s communities needs to be balanced with the uncertainty that Article 4 directions will protect commercial properties and areas from being lost to housing.

It was proposed that the Council prepared a non-immediate Article 4 direction for just one commercial area, part of Beacon Hill Road, Hindhead, as a pilot in order to assess the effectiveness of this approach when considering making other directions for the Borough. Whilst the power to make an Article 4 direction had been delegated to the Head of Planning Services, in view of the local interest and sensitivity, the views of the Joint Planning Committee were being sought.

Cllr Isherwood, as ward member for Hindhead, reiterated local concerns about the scale of the problem in Beacon Hill Road. There had been 19 conversions to residential use, many with no off-street parking and little in the way of amenity space. The street scene had been irrevocably changed. The Article 4 direction would give some control back to the Council and allow a conscious decision to be made on applications.

Committee members had some questions about the reasons for proposing a non-immediate Article 4 direction rather than an immediate direction, and how the impact of the ‘pilot’ would be tested. Officers explained that the non-immediate direction allowed for a period of consultation with property owners. The effectiveness of the direction would be assessed by monitoring the planning applications submitted to see if this was an effective way of controlling the character of a place. An example of success would be a refusal upheld on appeal of a change of use that would otherwise have been carried out under PD. A key part of the pilot would be data gathering in order to build up evidence about the use of PD rights for change of use, and the impact of an Article 4 direction.

Overall, the Committee was supportive of the approach proposed, but reiterated the importance of gathering robust evidence to support implementing it in other locations.

The Joint Planning Committee RESOVLED that:

1)        An Article 4 direction be prepared to withdraw permitted development rights for a change of use from commercial to residential for just one commercial area that has been requested by a town/parish council, to allow Waverley to assess its success in protecting the vitality and viability of the commercial area;

2)         the commercial area that the Article 4 direction is to be prepared for is an area located around Beacon Hill Road, Beacon Hill, Haslemere - the specific area to be determined by the Head of Planning Services in conjunction with the gathering of specific evidence on the impact of the loss of commercial premises to residential on the vitality and viability of the commercial area; and

3)         the preparation is for a non-immediate Article 4 direction.