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Edward Dillon House 4 Wild Cherry Drive Luton LU1 3UH

25/00039/COUChange of UseRefused
Discharge / amendments

Refused on 26 March 2025

Council decision: Application RefusedDelegated (officer decision)3 reasons for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)
Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.

Proposal

Conversion and change of use of five bedroom dwellinghouse (C3) to a four bed children's home (C2)

Received
15 January 2025
Decision level
Delegated (officer decision)
Public comments
6
Ward
FARLEY
  1. Received15 Jan
  2. Validated15 Jan
  3. Consult.18 Feb
  4. Target10 Apr
  5. Decided26 Mar

Decided in 70 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is an application to amend a permission at Edward Dillon House 4 Wild Cherry Drive Luton LU1 3UH. Luton has handled 188 applications of this type. This one was decided in 70 days, 2 weeks longer than Luton's typical decision time. The site is in 1 listed building nearby. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 43 applications across FARLEY. We hold 1,824 applications in total for the LU1 postcode area.

76% of amendment applications at Luton Borough Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

  1. The development, as indicated on plan numbers 01, 02, 03, DC01 and DC02 would lead to the loss of an existing large family dwelling house for which there is an identified shortage within the Borough, thereby, failing to maximise the opportunity of the site to assist in delivering housing that would meet the identified need within the Luton as established within the Luton Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA). The development is counterproductive and against well-established local policy, particularly in light of the fact that the Borough no longer has a 5-year housing land supply. The development would thereby be contrary to Policies LLP1 and LLP15 of the Luton Local Plan and the principles relating to housing within the NPPF. 26th March 2025 See Notes for Applicants Attached. TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE) ORDER 2015 Continuation (Forming part of Application No: 25/00039/COU
  2. The development, as indicated on plan numbers 01, 02, 03, DC01 and DC02 would result in a use for which there is no recognised need within the Borough of Luton. The development would thereby be contrary to Policies LLP1 and LLP15 of the Luton Local Plan and the principles relating to housing within the NPPF.
  3. The development, as indicated on plan numbers 01, 02, 03, DC01 and DC02 would result in services outside the Borough operating the scheme contrary to the sustainability principles set out in Policies LLP1 and LLP31 of the Luton Local Plan and the principles relating to housing within the NPPF 26th March 2025 INTERIM HEAD OF PLANNING TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE) ORDER 2015 Continuation (Forming part of Application No: 25/00039/COU ADVISORY: If this is your first submission for this form of development, before making your re-submission, we recommend that you seek formal pre-application advice to assist in addressing the concerns raised in the assessment of this application. Please note that any such advice may not guarantee an approval. Details of this service can be found on the planning pages of the website 26th March 2025 INTERIM HEAD OF PLANNING TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING (GENERAL DEVELOPMENT PROCEDURE) ORDER 2015 Continuation (Forming part of Application No: 25/00039/COU The plans/documents which are the subject of this decision can be viewed on the on-line search. Please note that the numbers given here are used so that the Document number and number on the decision notice are compatible. They are usually the plan numbers on the drawings themselves used by the Applicant/Agent. The documents are viewable on the "Documents" tab and comprise the following Luton Borough Council numbers:- As set out above.

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode
LU1 3UH
Application type
Change of Use
Scale / size
Medium

Planning application dates

Date validated
15 January 2025
Consultation expiry
21 February 2025
Consultation start
28 January 2025
Consultation end
18 February 2025
Neighbour consultation start
28 January 2025
Neighbour consultation end
21 February 2025
Last date for comments
21 February 2025
Target decision date
10 April 2025

Applicant and agent

Agent address
Kevin Smith Chartered Architectural Technologist 10 Halfway Avenue Luton LU4 8RB

Planning decision

Statutory period
85 days

Additional information

Documents
13
Constraints
5

Site constraints

Checking the site
2/3
Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

  • Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

Not published by this council, so not checked: tree preservation orders. Ask the council if these matter.

Also checked, none recorded (23)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, listed buildings, Article 4 directions, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, National Landscapes, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

Contains public sector information from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG and local planning authorities), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

© Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

© Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2026. All rights reserved. Flood Map for Planning, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.

Source: Luton

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