Change of use to nursery, Harrow

After local residents instructed Richard Buxton Solicitors on an urgent basis, having learned of the Council officers’ recommendation to approve, we submitted a detailed letter setting out legal concerns with the application for Prior Approval submitted to Harrow Council in respect of a change of use of a nursing home to a registered nursery.

The prior approval application was imminently due to be determined by the planning committee so an objection letter was sent to committee members the day before the committee meeting. The objection was primarily made on transport grounds. The site had been assessed by TFL as having a “very poor” PTAL rating (meaning that it was difficult to access other than by car) but the transport assessment provided by the applicant had forecast that most of its visitors would travel to the site on foot rather than by car or other means. It was argued that this was implausible and therefore misleading and had led to an inaccurate assessment of traffic and noise impacts from the proposed use of the site. There were additional issues relating to material omissions from the applicant’s noise report and the Planning Officer’s assessment of impacts of the site based on unlikely reduced operational targets set by the applicant. The application for Prior Approval was subsequently refused by the Council.