No 8 Red Lion Lane, Bridens Camp, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 6EY

Application No. 20/02711/FUL

Construction of Nine Dwellings and upgrading existing access on land adjacent No 8 Red Lion Lane, Bridens Camp, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP2 6EY.

CPRE Hertfordshire have concerns regarding this proposal for development in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Rural Area Beyond the Green Belt.

This site lies in the Rural Area Beyond the Green Belt, which is an area of development restraint covered by Dacorum Core Strategy Policy CS7, which allows small-scale development on previously developed sites in the Rural Area provided that it has no significant impact on the character and appearance of the countryside.

The applicant claims this site to be previously developed land (Planning Statement para.3.1). The Planning Statement cites the judgement in Dartford B.C. vs. Secretary of State [C1/2016/1664]. That judgement held that private residential gardens are not excluded from the definition of previously developed land, whether or not they are in a built-up area. However in para. 2.2 of the Planning Statement it says that “The site was originally used as gardens for the pub cottages, which were then sold off separately, having their own gardens on the other side of the access road. It was then sporadically used for parking by those cottages before reverting to scrub and most recently as a service yard while Thames Water were working within the area.” In other words, the garden use of the land, if it was anything other than an occasional activity, ceased and the site was allowed to revert to scrub. No Certificate of Lawfulness has been applied for or approved for a residential use.