The house being demolished
The Plannning Inspectorate has decided that a house built in Eaton Road, Sutton, in breach of the planning permission the developer had obtained, can remain as it is.
Richard says “I regret the fact that locally taken decisions, determined within a democratic process by elected Councillors here in Sutton, can be overturned by a national body based in Bristol . However, I accept that there is no further right of appeal. I particularly object to the fact that the developer, having obtained planning permission, then built something that was different, and the Planning Inspectorate have in effect said it is OK to do that. This is not a god result for local democracy.”
The history of this site, 39A Eaton Road, is that Sutton Council rejected a succession of proposals for the demolition of the detached house that used to stand on the site and the construction of a block of flats of a design it did not like, but the developer has a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate and the Inspectorate has overturned its decision.
An application for planning permission was first made some years ago and rejected by Sutton Council, but allowed by the Planning Inspectorate on appeal. Following a change of ownership of the property permission was sought for a block of a different design, and this was again rejected by the Council. The developer then demolished the house and built something different from either design. A retrospective application to allow the design of the house as built was again rejected, but this has now been allowed by the Planning Inspectorate on appeal.