The factual background
7.The village of Ufford is situated beside the River Deben, two and a half miles north of the famous Sutton Hoo archaeological site. Most of the older part of the village, known as Lower Ufford, is designated a conservation area and the Property sits within that area. The former mansion house known as Ufford Place was demolished in the 1950s, and the break up of the estate included the sale of the plots referred to in the 1957 conveyance. The plan below shows the relative locations of The Walk, Carousel and Shincliffe and their shared access area off Lower Road. The plot numbers are those shown on the 1957 conveyance plan.8.The Carousel plot is notable for its shape as it is the former octagonal walled garden of Ufford Place. The conservation area does not include Carousel, but follows the line of the historic red brick wall boundary to Ufford Place, which now forms the western boundary of the Property. The Property is apparently named The Walk because it was the location of a walk around the outside of this wall.9.Carousel and Shincliffe are detached houses dating from the late 1950s, in contrast to the Property which is a bungalow built around the 1970s. All three properties are set back from the access area within their gardens, on ground which is higher than the road. Screening is provided by mature hedges and trees, and the high red brick wall around Carousel, so that from the access area only their roofs are visible, to a greater or lesser extent. The Property is not visible to Shincliffe from within the plot.10.The access area is unregistered land and there is no known owner. Schedule 1 to the 1957 conveyance included a covenant by the purchaser to pay a one third share of the expense of maintaining the area. This may be unenforceable (see later in this decision) but the three property owners accept that responsibility for maintenance is shared between them. It has a tarmac surface, overlaid with shingle, and one central manhole cover giving access to the main sewer. The surface is not new but appeared on my inspection to be in good condition, having stood the test of time with no evidence of patch repairs.11.The applicant purchased the Property in 2011 and has since obtained three planning consents. The first, in 2014, was for erection of a detached double garage with first floor storage. In June 2017 consent was granted for extension and refurbishment of the existing four bedroom bungalow into a five bedroom dwelling of one and a half storeys, i.e. with first floor bedrooms in the roof space (“the 2017 consent”). The footprint of the dwelling would be similar to that of the existing bungalow. A drainage trench has been dug to commence building operations for this dwelling, in order that the consent remains extant.12.On 14 July 2020, consent was granted for the development, expressed as “Demolition of the existing dwelling (The Walk) and sub-division of the site into two plots. Two new dwellings, one being a replacement.” The approved plans show a four bedroom house of one and a half storeys sited where the existing bungalow stands, but with a smaller footprint in order to allow construction of an access drive along the western boundary through to the rear of the Property. The detached garage would be demolished for the same reason. A three bedroom bungalow would be sited at the far end of the garden, close to the boundary with The Gatehouse (shown on the plan above). Conditions attached to the consent include completion of an approved scheme of investigation of archaeological assets and implementation of an approved tree and hedge planting scheme.