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The land and the restrictions
The land and the restrictions
Following the transfer of the land in 1975, planning permission was granted in 1977 for a warden-controlled housing scheme. In around 1981 the council built out the scheme, comprising 18 self-contained bedsits, eight self-contained one-bedroom flats, and a warden’s house. Nine two-bedroom flats were also contained in a separate building called The Mews, and the whole development was named St George’s Court. It was demolished in 2023 and the application land is now a cleared site.
The restrictions which are the subject of the application were contained in clause 2 of the convenance by the Executors to the Council dated 8th October 1975 (“the Conveyance”). The Council covenanted for the benefit of the remainder of Court Lodge that:
The land shall not be used other than as an old persons’ warden scheme with gardens and ancillary uses
No building or buildings shall be erected and no alterations or additions affecting the appearance of such buildings shall be carried out without the Vendors’ written consent Such consent shall be deemed to have been given if the Vendors have not indicated otherwise within two months of an application having been made and such consent shall not be vexatiously withheld The Vendors’ Surveyors Architects and legal costs together with Value Added Tax thereon incurred in connection with such consent as aforesaid shall be paid by the Purchaser or other the owner or owners for the time being of the land hereby conveyed”.
Following the 1975 sale, other parts of Court Lodge were subsequently sold. Each of those parcels of land retains the benefit of the restrictions in the Conveyance. Today, they comprise residential development on Childs Way, Court Meadow, Courtyard Gardens and Goring Place. As will be seen from the plan below (in which the proposed development on the application land is in the south-west corner) the houses on the south of Childs Way and those to the west of Courtyard Gardens immediately adjoin the application land, while those on Court Meadow and Goring Place are a little more remote from it. The application land is generally flat, with a slight gradient towards the north so that the homes of the objectors stand a little higher. The application land is surrounded by an estate wall on its southern boundary to West Street and is currently separated from adjoining land on its other sides by trees and shrubs.
