Click here to see map for location of Hollycroft Epsom Road Ewell KT17 1JR (corner of Epsom Road and Shaw Close).

Original application for additional house in part of the garden: 21/01167/FUL Erection of a two-storey detached dwelling with associated soft landscaping on “the land adjacent to Hollycroft Epsom Road Ewell Surrey KT17 1JR” (actually part of Hollycroft’s garden)

New application for modifications to existing Listed Building 21/01254/FLH Part single storey and part two storey extension following the demolition of existing extensions and structures. The erection of a detached garage.

Hollycroft is a Listed Building, situated within the southern boundary of the delightful Ewell Village Conservation Area. The proposed new house, actually situated in what is at present part of Hollycroft’s garden, would be accessed from Shaw Close at the south of the site.

In August 2021, the Society requested refusal of the original application, effectively for backland development, because it completely fails to recognize that the site is located within the Conservation Area and does not allow for any of the design, landscaping or conservation requirements relating to such Areas. The applicant’s statement within the Design & Access Statement (Section 4.24) is incorrect regarding the site’s location outside the Conservation Area.

While objecting to the proposal on the grounds of inappropriateness in a Conservation Area, the Society also noted a range of respects in which the application and supporting documentation is substantially misleading, in particular the description of its location as outside the Conservation Area and in land not forming the garden and setting of a Listed Building and the prior unauthorised damage already done to a specimen tree, (which tree is now subject to a Tree Protection Order).

Now a second application has been submitted proposing demolition of the existing extensions to the Listed Building and outdoor swiming pool, and replacement with more substantial accommodation using contemporary design and materials.

Bizarrely, this second application and the associated documents make no reference to the prior application and the potential for the second dwelling in the grounds, which would raise potential privacy and other issues for both dwellings, and maintains the pretence that the site is outside the Conservation Area.

Possibly as a consequence, the Council have failed to allocate both applications to the same Officer for assessment and management. So our objection letter not only highlights the lack of consideration shown by the applicant for its location in a Conservation Area, and suggests that both applications should be withdrawn and replaced by a single application considering both proposals, treating the site as a single parcel of land for planning purposes. The Council are also requested to have one officer deal concurrently with both applications.

See our latest letter here.

See our previous letter here.