RES 6 - Residential Development in Lanes and Gardens

       

 

 

AIM

 

To ensure that development in lanes and gardens does not result in overdevelopment and that residential amenity for existing and future residents is of a high quality.

 

POLICY

 

The Council will not support residential development of any part of a residential backcourt (see Definition) for new housing.

 

Proposals for both conversion and new build in lanes and gardens will be considered against the following criteria:

 

1.       RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN LANES

 

Proposals for residential development will require to meet all of the following criteria:

 

  • the established building lines of the lane (see Definition) should be respected;
  • access along the lane for residents, refuse lorries and emergency vehicles should not be adversely affected;
  • private garden space for clothes drying and sitting out must be provided;
  • existing boundary walls with the adjoining backcourt/garden should be retained and repaired with any gaps rebuilt to match;
  • the scale and massing should be in the style of mews housing, up to a maximum height of 2-storeys, or 2-storeys with dormers in lanes with no mews houses;
  • high quality design and materials require to be used;
  • existing formal parking provision for residents of adjacent buildings, which is removed as a result of the development, must be replaced;and
  • potential issues of noise and air pollution that could arise in developments between tall tenement blocks should be avoided.

 

2.       RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN GARDENS

 

The City contains many detached and semi-detached houses with generous gardens to the side and/or rear of the properties.  Development of part of these gardens for additional dwellings, however, can often result in over-development of the site, to the detriment of the residential amenity of both the existing and the new properties.

 

Proposals for residential development will require to meet all the following criteria:

 

  • the new plot(s) being created should comply with the average residential plot size of similar dwellings in the surrounding area;
  • the development should match the scale and massing of adjacent residential property;
  • the development must have a frontage on to a public street; and
  • all other relevant standards should be met.

 

Conservation Areas

 

Many of these areas have a spacious, leafy character with houses sitting in generous plots.  The subdivision of a garden will often result in housing plots much smaller than those in the surrounding area.  This over-intensive development of plots is likely to detract from the visual appearance of the conservation area.

 

  • Development in side and rear gardens will not be supported unless the proposal complies with the criteria set out in 1. and 2. above.
  • All properties, resulting from the splitting of the feu, should have gardens in scale with the established pattern in the area.

 

3.       ADDITIONAL LOCAL AREA POLICY

 

Park Conservation Area

 

The construction of new mews houses in lanes in this area could adversely affect the residential amenity of the flats in the main buildings, e.g., by restricting daylight to the lower floors of the main building, presenting an outlook to the residents of a nearly blank rear wall or, when proposed as part of the subdivision of the main building, restricting their amenity space to a very small rear yard.

 

New mews houses are only likely to be acceptable if historical O.S. maps show a mews house on the site originally, or if the proposal is for a site between original mews buildings.  The conversion of existing mews properties to residential use, however, is encouraged, and any alterations should also comply with the following criteria.

 

New mews houses should meet all the following criteria:

 

  • the scale and massing should match the original standard for the lane, with ridge and eaves height to match;
  • houses should have pitched roofs, clad in slate, with gable ends;
  • elevations facing on to the lane, and on to the main property, should both be finished in stone, with all windows having a vertical emphasis and being framed in timber; and
  • any windows proposed in the roof to be conservation style rooflights only.

 

LISTED BUILDINGS AND CONSERVATION AREAS

 

Proposals for residential development in lanes and gardens within conservation areas or affecting listed buildings will also have to meet the standards set out in policy DES 3: Protecting and Enhancing the City’s Historic Environment (supplemented by development guide DG/DES 3 – Design Guidance for Listed Buildings and Properties in Conservation Areas).

 

Note: Residents of all new housing developments will be excluded from obtaining residents' parking permits

 

DEFINITIONS

 

BACKCOURT - The communal private garden of flats, typically including bin storage for domestic waste.

 

LANE - A narrow street, usually located at the rear of properties.  A lane can adjoin boundary walls, rear gardens, hedges or fences on both or one side, or provide access to backcourts and gardens.

 

POLICY JUSTIFICATION

 

This policy supports the Plan’s Development Strategy to ensure sites are not overdeveloped and that residential amenity for existing and future residents is of a high quality (see Part 2, PEOPLE, Residential Environments and Design, paragraph 3.56) and reflects guidance contained in Scottish Planning Policy 3: Planning for Housing and Planning Advice Note 71: Conservation Area Management.

 

FURTHER GUIDANCE

 

For parking standards, see policies TRANS 4: Vehicle Parking Standards and TRANS 6: Cycle Parking Standards.