| Conditions or Reasons for Planning Application - CB/25/01593/FULL |
| Conditions or Reasons: | | 1)
The proposal would fail to preserve the special character of the Grade II Listed Building, its setting and wider Leighton Buzzard Conservation Area. The proposal would lead to less than substantial harm to its significance that would not be outweighed by public benefits. The proposal would therefore be contrary HQ1 and HE3 of the adopted Local Plan (2021), Chapter 5 of the Design Guide (2023) and Chapter 16 of the NPPF (2024). The proposal would fail to satisfy the provisions of Section 66 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as supported by the aims of Section 16 of the NPPF. |
| 2)
The proposal decouples the site's existing parking provision from the scheme, contrary to Council guidance and in contrast with the level of accessibility and sustainability of the site location, with the effect also of increasing reliance on off-site parking that has not been demonstrated through appropriate means to be suitably accommodated. Nor is robust mitigation proposed for the deletion of the car parking asset from the scheme, contrary to Policy T2 and T3 of the CBLP (2021), Section 9 of the NPPF (2024) and the Council's Adopted Parking Standards for New Developments SPD (2023). |
3)
The removal of the existing car parking asset from the scheme, which currently also accommodates the servicing needs of the site, would lead to an overly confined space for
mixing vehicles and pedestrians, resulting in unacceptable hazards for pedestrians, contrary to Policy T2 and T3 of the CBLP (2021), Section 9 of the NPPF (2024) and the Council's Adopted Parking Standards for New Developments SPD (2023). |
| 4)
Insufficient information has been provided within the application to assess the potential impacts of the proposed development on protected species. As such, the Local Planning Authority cannot be satisfied that the development would not have any harmful impact to protected species and therefore the proposal would conflict with Policy EE3 of the Central Bedfordshire Local Plan (2021) and Section 15 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024). |
| 5)
The Council considers that the proposed development, by reason of its proximity lying within a 12.6km linear distance of the Ashridge Commons and Woods Site of Special Scientific Interest within the Chiltern Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation, would add to the recreational disturbance in this area likely to harm the integrity of the conservation purposes of the Chiltern Beechwoods Special Area of Conservation. In the absence of a legal obligation to secure an appropriate mitigation strategy to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority, the proposal would be contrary to the Habitat Regulations and Paragraphs 193 and 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2021 and Policy EE3 of the Central Bedfordshire Local Plan. |
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