Our planning application for improvements to the boatyard was refused on the 22nd December 2021.  

The following statement was provided to press organisations asking for comment in early January.

Statement

I imagine general unhappiness and upset are common themes amongst recipients of failed planning applications.  That said, I feel our considerable disappointment is not without good foundation.    

While the process itself has been beset with several problems, including supporters being locked out of the planning portal for days at a time and therefore prevented from recording their letters with ease, the most significant issue has been a discernible lack of engagement.  This culminated in a key letter from the Environment Agency dated 16th November not being copied or shared with us until it was finally uploaded to the Council’s website along with confirmation of the refusal, many weeks later, on or about 22nd December.  Other important documents, including the Landscape Officer’s consultation response, were similarly held back until the decision to refuse permission was published. 

The letter from the Environment Agency is naturally key.  Importantly, it contains suggestions and requirements that we would have been both happy and readily able to comply with, had the letter been shared with us on a timely basis.        

Separately, the Planning Officer has boldly asserted that our proposal represents a change of use.  It is against this backdrop, despite overwhelming support both locally and nationally, that the Officer has refused permission under delegated powers.  We are entirely confident that this assessment is incorrect and can be readily proven to be so.  While avoiding fine detail for now, one does not have to work too hard to demonstrate that storing and maintaining boats on a site that has been used for this purpose for over 120 years, upholds the key theme of continuation.  This is especially the case as Hobbs retain the use of part of the site under an extended lease and all the other tenants similarly remain key elements of the boatyard moving forward.  

I am not a developer with a financial upside to this proposal.  It is instead a scheme with wholly transparent, well-intentioned objectives that has been very warmly welcomed by individuals and organisations passionate about the restoration and preservation of classic boats along with fostering the prerequisite artisan skills.   Equally,  it is a scheme that I was delighted to see so warmly welcomed by the residents of Henley and a significant number of WBC residents as a dramatic improvement to the visual amenity of this important part of the riverbank, offering improved access to the river for certain user groups and the promise of sensitive rejuvenation of this important site.

The letter headed 'Notification of Refusal of Planning Permission' that can be read on the Council's website concludes with the following statement:  

'The Council engages with all applicants in a positive and proactive way through specific pre-application enquiries and the detailed advice available on the Council’s website. On this particular application, no pre-application advice was sought before the application was submitted. As the proposal was clearly contrary to the provisions of the Development Plan, it was considered that further discussions would be unnecessary and costly for all parties'.

On the contrary, we formally submitted a pre-application and, thereafter, having considered the response, incorporated a number of important changes to the initial designs as follows:

• The overall floor area and volume increase was reduced from 16.7% to just 11.7% of the existing volume (despite the initially proposed 16.7%
  increase nonetheless remaining usefully below the earlier volume of buildings originally destroyed by fire). 
• The proposed workshop was reduced in size and aligned with the existing buildings with a gable facing the river.
• Retractable canopies to the moorings were removed.
• Parked cars are now screened from the river with a hedge (instead of the workshop as originally drawn).
• Trees have been added to the landscaping of the carpark.

As I now understand that an appeal may take the best part of a year, resubmission is naturally the more attractive option.  That said, it would be pointless to pursue this route if I am not first assured of the support of Wokingham Council to bring the application to Committee for consideration.  This process will naturally involve considerable additional expense and the application will fail, as I have observed before, if left in the hands of the Planning Officer alone.        

 Adam Toop, January 2022

You may view all documents relating to the planning application  here