2 Clarence Road Poole BH14 8AX

1. 4.Section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (the Act) requires that, with respect to development affecting buildings or other land in a conservation area, ‘special attention shall be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area.’
2. 5.The appeal property lies within the ACCA. The Council’s ACCA Character Appraisal and Management Plan (2012) (ACCACAMP) notes that the ACCA is urban and formal in character. Most of the buildings, including residential and commercial properties, date back to the comprehensive Victorian and Edwardian development of the area. Cohesiveness is identified as a feature of the urban structure. Buildings tend to be of a similar size and layout, and positioned within https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate Appeal Decision 6010314 reasonably sized plots, resulting in a fairly fine, regular grain and a uniform feel within the area.
3. 6.Residential properties are generally visible from the public realm, two-storey in height, and are set back behind shallow front gardens and have a strong front building line. The original roofing material is predominantly slate, and roofs tend to be steeply pitched, incorporating brick chimneys as large and prominent features. Solid-to-glazed ratios and windows design are noted to give buildings a vertical emphasis.
4. 7.Specifically, the appeal site lies within Character Area 3: Residential Area to the South of Commercial Road of the ACCACAMP. This area dates to the Victorian era and is predominantly residential in character, comprising detached, semi- detached and short-terraced housing. Red brick walls feature under pitched slate roofs, where the main roof slopes away from the road, with gablets facing the road. Other notable architectural features include prominent chimneys, sash windows, terracotta, stucco or stone details over windows and doors, and contrasting brick string courses.
5. 8.The appeal property is an end-of-terrace two-storey dwelling. It comprises an integral part of a street scene comprising a group of short residential terraces which are laid out in a semi-circular arrangement along Clarence Road and Menton Road. These dwellings, including the appeal property, exhibit the aforesaid features which typify this part of the ACCA, according to the ACCACAMP. They collectively result in a cohesive townscape with properties being of a similar height and scale, having consistent front and rear building lines, and being set within long rectangular-shaped road-facing plots which taper towards the rear where they back onto rear service lanes.
6. 9.There is also a strong degree of uniformity due to a prevalence of similar materials, roof forms and architectural detailing. These include brick walls, front- facing projecting bays, vertically orientated timber sliding sash windows with decorative headers and cills and feature front porches.
7. 10.The roofscape is characterised by slate and tile pitched roofs with prominent front- facing feature gablets with decorative bargeboards, as well as decorative tile edging and potted brick chimney stacks. As originally built, the dwellings have clear and uncluttered front and rear slopes to the main roof.
8. 11.Some changes have been made to the original appeal property. These include the replacement of slate with concrete roof tiles, the painting of some of the rear elevation brickwork, the use of upvc for the windows, and the addition of a rear single storey extension.
9. 12.Notwithstanding this, the property has retained its original roof form and architectural features, and it comprises an attractive period property which remains visually connected to the terrace of housing within which it lies. It makes a strong positive contribution to the townscape character of this part of the ACCA, and it is noteworthy that the site and the wider terrace are identified within the ACCACAMP as ‘positive features’ within the conservation area.
10. 13.Whilst the design quality of the terraced housing is most appreciated in views from the street, it is also readily apparent in views from the service road which runs along the rear of the housing, as well as from neighbouring properties. Moreover, https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2 Appeal Decision 6010314 in the case of the appeal site, due to its curved plot and juxtaposition in relation to the western end of the service road, the rear of the property is also visible from the public realm of Britannia Road.
11. 14.The ACCACAMP recognises the scope for new development at the rear of properties where this reflects the style of the parent building and reinforces local distinctiveness, such as applying materials and details which are characteristic to the conservation area.
12. 15.However, in the case of the appeal scheme, the proposed rear dormer would occupy virtually the whole of the main rear roof slope, extending almost across its entire width. As such, it would dominate this part of the roof due to its combined width and height and proximity to the ridge and eaves lines. The flat-roofed design would not respect the traditional pitched roof construction of the original property and it would result in the dormer having an incongruous ‘boxy’ appearance.
13. 16.The proposed siting of the dormer close to the rear gable projection and two brick chimneys, which it would wrap around, combined with its proposed height, width and depth, would result in a cramped and over-dominant addition which would overwhelm these existing positive roof features.
14. 17.The incongruous appearance of the dormer would be exacerbated by the non- alignment of its glazed elements with the ground and first floor windows below, together with notably more horizontally proportioned windows than those below which typify the original period property design. Moreover, the proposed small areas of dormer fenestration, set high into the rear wall of the dormer, leaving a large area of blank rear dormer wall, would serve to draw attention to the discordant and disproportionately large addition to the rear of the roof, which would not respect the character and appearance of the rear elevation of the property.
15. 18.As a result, the proposed rear dormer would appear as a bulky, top-heavy and discordant addition to the rear roof slope, which would be visible from the public realm in the service road and from neighbouring properties. It would draw the eye and appear at odds with the consistent roofscape which is characteristic of the terrace as a whole.
16. 19.Accordingly, I find that the appeal scheme would add an excessively large and visually over-dominant addition to the host property and the terrace within which it lies. It would be at odds with, and visually overwhelm the original building form, as well as resulting in a detrimental erosion of the visual appreciation of some of the defining architectural features of the appeal property and the wider terrace.
17. 20.I acknowledge the presence of rear flat-roofed dormers nearby at Nos.18 and 20 Clarence Road. The Council has confirmed that approval of the former in 2010 pre-dated current local and national planning policy and the ACCACAMP, and that approval of the latter in 2026 took account of the existence of the former on the neighbouring property.
18. 21.I saw during my site visit that these structures are not directly comparable with the appeal scheme. They occupy a smaller percentage of the original rear roof slopes of their respective host properties than that proposed by the appeal scheme, and they are sited on the rear of semi-detached houses which have a different rear dwelling design to that of the appeal property. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3 Appeal Decision 6010314
19. 22.Moreover, in terms of their location, these dormers are distinctly geographically separate from the differently designed terraces of properties to their north, within which the appeal site lies. As such, the architectural integrity and consistency of the rear roof slope character of these terraces has not been harmed by the existing dormers.
20. 23.The appellant has also drawn my attention to the existence of rear dormers at Nos. 12, 18 and 32 Salterns Road. Whilst these properties also lie within Character Area 3 of the ACCA, they are in a different road to the appeal site. Moreover, there is no substantive evidence before me that these structures are directly comparable to the appeal scheme in respect of their design and relationship to their host properties. Also, I am not aware of the particular circumstances relating to their planning status, and it is not before me to comment on the appropriateness of these or otherwise.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

BH14 8AX

Application type

Householder

Scale / size

Small

Date validated

30 March 2026

Consultation expiry

9 May 2026

Consultation start

10 April 2026

Consultation end

9 May 2026

Agent address

18 Richmond Road Poole BH14 0BS

Documents

7