King George V House King George V Road Amersham Buckinghamshire HP6 5AW

1. 1.The site lies in a very sustainable location, near Amersham town centre and within walking distance of the railway station and several bus routes. The proposal includes a low-rise single-storey retail unit along with a large surface car park, which has a low density of development and low plot coverage. The proposed development represents an inefficient use of land within this highly sustainable location. The NPPF advocates that developments should make optimal use of the potential of each site, and that Local Planning Authorities should refuse applications which they consider fail to make efficient use of land. Policy CS1 highlights that the spatial strategy aims to protect the Chilterns National Landscape and Green Belt by focusing new development on land within existing settlements not covered by those designations. Given the lack of 5-Year Housing Land Supply and the constraints elsewhere in the District, this site is capable of accommodating more development, for example a comprehensive mixed-use scheme involving a supermarket and housing. Given the inefficient use of the land that would arise if this proposal was permitted, the proposal conflicts with the aims of Paragraphs 129 and 130 of the National Planning Policy Framework, 2024; and Policies CS1, CS2, CS3, CS15 and CS16 of the Core Strategy for Chiltern District - Adopted November 2011.
2. 2.The site lies outside the defined central shopping area of Amersham. In such a location, the NPPF and Policy S14 highlight the need for a sequential and retail impact test, to ascertain whether other preferable sites exist. There is insufficient information provided within the submitted Sequential and Retail Impact Assessment to conclude that there are no alternative suitable sites available within the town centre that can be appropriate for the proposed development or that this proposed development in an edge of town centre location would not have a significant adverse impact upon the vitality and viability of the town centre. On this basis, the proposal fails to comply with the sequential test and Paragraphs 94 and 95 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024; and Policy S14 of the Chiltern Local Plan - Adopted 1 September 1997 (including alterations adopted 29 May 2001) Consolidated September 2007 & November 2011.
3. 3.The layout and siting of the proposed retail unit and surface car park represents poor design. Specifically, the low-rise building would be set well back from the main street, with the frontage car park dominating views in the street scene. It would fail to create active street frontages, and it would result in a poorly enclosed and defined street frontage, with inadequate landscaping. Additionally, the scale of the building would be at odds with the surrounding higher density urban grain and the landscaping and design of the new building would not be in keeping with the character and appearance of the surrounding area. This would harm the character and appearance of the locality, contrary to Policies GC1 and TR15 of The Chiltern Local Plan 1997 (including alterations

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

HP6 5AW

Application type

Full Application

Scale / size

Medium

Parish

Amersham

Date validated

24 September 2025

Consultation expiry

2 March 2026

Consultation start

9 February 2026

Consultation end

2 March 2026

Neighbour consultation start

6 November 2025

Neighbour consultation end

27 November 2025

Last date for comments

2 March 2026

Target decision date

20 February 2026

Agent

CarneySweeney

Agent address

Office 3 18 Scott House Suite 1 The Concourse Waterloo Station London SE1 7LY

Statutory period

149 days

Last advertised

7 November 2025

Advertisement expiry

28 November 2025

Site notice start

15 November 2025

Site notice end

5 December 2025

Documents

53