Chapman Lily Planning are pleased to have won planning permission at appeal for a scheme to replace one house with two in one of East Dorset’s ‘Special Character Areas’. The application proposed the replacement of a large, twentieth century bungalow with two new chalet bungalow style homes. The Council’s had refused the application citing that replacing one house with two would contravene their Supplementary Planning Guidance that seeks to maintain the appearance of such ‘Special Character Areas’, of which there are a few examples across the District including at Ferndown and West Moors. Chapman Lily Planning successfully argued that the development would in fact preserve the character of the area as a result of the retention of substantial landscaping on the site, and which is the key contribution of the site to the area’s character. Of note, the Inspector also considered that ‘the Council considers the replacement dwellings would fail to accord with a number of criteria set out in the SPG. However, I am mindful that the SPG is now of some age. It pre-dates the National Planning Policy Framework (“the Framework”) as well as the Local Plan and fails to recognise other more recent additions to the area. In such circumstances, I regard the guidelines set out in the SPG as only a starting point, and consider the correct approach is to assess the actual impact of the proposal on the character and appearance of the surroundings and judge whether there would be material harm’. The appeal was allowed subject to conditions. Matt Holmes, Director at Chapman Lily Planning commented that ‘I am delighted that we were able to be successful in this appeal on behalf of our clients. Working with Aspire Architects Ltd we developed a scheme that will deliver the client’s aspirations for the site’s development whilst preserving the character of the area.