PLANNING COMMENT FOR APPLICATION REF:  5/2025/2228

N Jay

12 Rowan Close

Object to Proposal

R.e. planning application 5/2025/2228
I am writing to object to the above planning application proposal to build a house on Rowan Close.

1.	Road safety & parking issues

This development’s previous proposed planning application 5/2025/1334 was refused by the Highway Authority. Their letter stated ‘A highways grass verge is located to the front of the site but lacks a footpath so pedestrians are not expected to be an issue but cyclists and vehicles will be.’  This new planning application would appear to be using the highways grass verge as part of their plan for the property’s required parking spaces.  This would make a vehicle parked in that space protrude over or very close to the road which is already narrow.  This will make it very difficult and dangerous for vehicles to pass.  It is already a challenge for any vans or delivery lorries to pass even with the current grass verge allowance. This will likely mean that the allocated parking space is not used and therefore the property will not meet its required parking allocation and will put pressure on parking in the surrounding area.  The residents of the block of flats do not have any alternative but to park in this location. The photos in the planning application showing few cars are not representative of the usual parking demands.  Furthermore, the Officer Delegated Report on the previous application for this site 5/2025/1334 states “Vehicles shall be located on land within the ownership of the applicant’ (p.6) and this planning proposal appears to be planning to use highways verge land for part of the parking space. 
  
2.	Safety concerns about access to the site.

I have very serious concerns about the safety impact on Rowan Close due to large lorries, cranes and other construction vehicles visiting the site over an extended period during construction.  There is simply no space for them to park safely.  For example, recently a highway vehicle stopped in this location blocked the road to other users.  A house construction site requires multiple large vehicles over an extended period.  The feedback from the previous planning application states that residents would be in the rights to contact police should road access become an issue.  However, we know that there are great demands on police budgets and prioritising of issues means it would be unlikely that they could attend quickly for a matter such as this.  

At current house development sites on Hatfield Road there are multiple construction vehicles parked over the verge and the pavement every day and they have caused the verge to turn to deep muddy pits with mud spread over the pavement.  If this development was to go ahead, what guarantees would we have that the verges and pavements would not be used in this same manner?  This would lead to safety issues for current residents which include elderly residents who walk these paths daily for their health and wellbeing as well as children who play on the grass areas as they do not have the luxury of a garden.

Thank you for considering these safety concerns.