Land Rear Of Oakfield Close Potters Bar Hertfordshire

1. 1.The proposed development, by virtue of requiring access across and the siting on protected amenity land, would result in the unacceptable loss of public open space that forms an essential part of the estate's amenity provision. This would be contrary to Policies CS12 and CS15 of the Hertsmere Core Strategy 2013 and Policy SADM36 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan 2016. The site's inaccessibility without the loss of protected open space also fails to meet the requirements of Policy CS1(iv) of the Core Strategy 2013, which requires development to be located in accessible locations taking account of infrastructure capacity. The harm arising from the loss of this amenity space would significantly and demonstrably outweigh any benefits of the development.
2. 2.Given the siting, close proximity and excessive height of the proposed retaining wall, there would be a material loss of outlook, overbearing form and undue sense of enclosure created towards future occupiers of the proposed development. The proposal would therefore be contrary to Policies SP1, SP2 and CS22 of the Core Strategy 2013; Policies SADM3 and SADM30 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan 2016, the draft Planning and Design Guide SPD: Part D - Guidelines for development (2016) and E (2006) of the Council's Planning and Design Guide SPD and the NPPF 2024.
3. 3.The proposed development site would be located within a non-sustainable location and the failure to demonstrate any adequate off-street parking provision, would have the potential to put further pressure on the existing on- street parking availability along Oakfield Close. The proposal would therefore be contrary to Paragraph 116 of the National Planning Policy Framework 2024, Policy SADM40 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan 2016, Policies CS22 and CS25 of the Hertsmere Core Strategy 2013, and the Council's Parking Standards SPD (2014).
4. 4.Officers consider that the proposed retaining wall by reason of its excessive size, scale, siting and design would result in an overly obtrusive, prominent and incongruous form of development, which would be publically viewable from vantage points from both Oakfield Close and the adjacent public footpath. This element of the proposal would therefore have a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the local street scene and wider visual amenities and would fail to accord with Policies SADM3 and SADM30 of the Site Allocations and Development Management Policies Plan 2016, Policy CS22 of the Core Strategy 2013 and the advice contained within the NPPF 2024.
5. 5.The lack of submission of any appropriate arboricultural information, would mean the impact on mature trees close to the siting of proposed development has not been fully or adequately assessed, with the potential to cause harm towards those trees, and with no adequate or suitable replacement planting measures having been put forward.

From the council's decision notice.

Application type

Full Planning Permission

Scale / size

Medium

Parish

No Parish

Date validated

27 August 2025

Consultation expiry

28 November 2025

Consultation start

8 December 2025

Consultation end

4 November 2025

Neighbour consultation start

8 December 2025

Neighbour consultation end

18 September 2025

Last date for comments

28 November 2025

Target decision date

5 December 2025

Agent

Gabriel Planning Solutions

Agent address

5 Corinium Gate St Albans Hertfordshire AL3 4HX

Statutory period

100 days

Last advertised

29 October 2025

Advertisement expiry

28 November 2025

Site notice start

16 October 2025

Site notice end

6 November 2025

Planning Portal ID

PP-14267883

Documents

26

Constraints

8