- Decision
- dismissed, 9 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: L Clark
- Authority
- Islington (London)
- Appeal reference
- 6007494
- Application reference
- P2025/2894/PRA
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Prior approval (GPDO Part 20 Class AB) for two-storey upward extension providing 16 flats above commercial/mixed terrace
- Homes
- 16
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- TR4(1)(d), TR3(1)(c), L2
- Main issues
- prior approval - transport; trade and business; neighbour light
Summary
A Class AB prior approval appeal for two storeys and 16 flats above a Seven Sisters Road parade. Dismissed on three prior-approval matters:
- servicing and highway safety on a Red Route, with no delivery mitigation;
- the effect of cycle parking in the rear lane on existing businesses;
- daylight to a neighbour's secondary windows, which had not been assessed.
The inspector used TR3, TR4 and L2 as the Framework yardsticks for the GPDO matters. The housing benefits were outside the scope of prior approval.
What made the difference
Evidence gaps, reinforced by what the inspector saw on site: a van loading in the bus lane and holding up buses, and an open, cluttered rear lane. No servicing plan or neighbour daylight assessment had been supplied, and a Delivery and Servicing Plan condition could not cure an unevidenced problem.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| TR4(1)(d) | fail | no delivery/servicing mitigation on a Red Route where vans load in the bus lane; TfL concerns; cycle parking narrows rear service lane (DL 21-38) | |
| TR6 | fail | not shown cumulative servicing would avoid "an unacceptable impact on highway safety" (DL 24, 29, 32) | |
| L2 | fail | airspace limb — neighbour daylight to secondary windows of 1 Axminster Road not assessed; future occupiers' living standards and NDSS met (DL 43, 50-53) |
Key facts
- Fails GPDO AB.2(1)(a) transport, AB.2(1)(i) impact on trade/business and AB.2(1)(g) neighbour amenity (DL 56)
- Housing benefits outside the matters the GPDO allows to be considered (DL 54)
- Parties consulted on the Aug 2026 Framework (DL 4); costs application decided separately (DL 2)
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.