- Decision
- dismissed, 16 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: D Cleary
- Authority
- Wandsworth (London)
- Appeal reference
- 6012827
- Application reference
- 2025/3444
- Procedure
- householder
- Development
- Alterations to front portico (smaller replacement of an unauthorised open-sided hipped canopy)
- Site context
- conservation area, inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- HE6(1), HE6(3), HE6(4)
- Development plan policies
- Wandsworth Local Plan 2023-2038 LP1, LP3, LP5
- Main issues
- character and appearance of CA
Summary
A reduced porch canopy on a house in the Westmead Conservation Area, Wandsworth, was dismissed. It sets out the new HE6 sequence plainly: substantial weight to conservation (HE6(1)), any harm of considerable importance and weight (HE6(3)), then the weighing of harm against public benefits (HE6(4)). Private weather-protection benefits carried limited weight.
Issues and findings
- Transition. "While the format has altered, the considerations material to this decision have not fundamentally changed" (DL ¶3).
- CA: HARM. "Notwithstanding the reduction in size, the proposed canopy would still introduce a modern, visually assertive feature … a prominent and incongruous addition that undermines the visual cohesiveness of this part of the WCA" (DL ¶9).
- HE6 sequence. "The Framework confirms that substantial weight should be given to the conservation of designated heritage assets (HE6(1)), and that any harm to such an asset is a matter of considerable importance and weight (HE6(3)). HE6(4) requires that harm … must be weighed against any public benefits … such benefits are private in nature and carry limited weight" (DL ¶11).
Planning balance
HE6(4): limited private benefit against considerable-weight harm to the conservation area.
What made the difference
Reducing the size did not change the design logic the previous inspector had found harmful. Only a change of form (for example, removing the canopy or matching the original porch detailing) would have altered the outcome.
Transferable points
- The new HE6 sequence is HE6(1) substantial weight, then HE6(3) harm of considerable importance and weight, then the HE6(4) public-benefit balance. Note that the 2026 wording no longer grades harm as "less than substantial" (DL ¶11).
- Shrinking a feature previously found harmful does not overcome the objection where its form and relationship to the host building stay the same (DL ¶8-9).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| HE6(1) | harm | substantial | substantial weight to conservation of designated heritage assets (DL 11) |
| HE6(3) | harm | considerable | canopy remains prominent, incongruous modern feature undermining cohesive group of four houses in Westmead CA (DL 8-9, 11) |
| HE6(4) | fail | weather protection is a private benefit of limited weight; does not outweigh harm (DL 11) |
Key facts
- Previous appeal against the larger existing unauthorised canopy dismissed (ref 3360192, 23 May 2025)
- Reduced width and projection but same form and relationship to the facade
- Early 20th-century suburban estate CA; group of four largely unaltered detached houses
Related decisions
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.