Policy information sourced from St Albans District Local Plan

23 Business Use Development

Planning permission for business use development, including extensions and changes of use, will not normally he permitted unless it accords with one of the following points ((1) - (6) below) and with the business use car parking standards (see Policy 44). However, when considering proposals, the Council will also take account of the criteria set out in Policy 65 of the County Structure Plan Alterations 1991 (see para. 4.14).

1. St, Albans City Centre: New Business Use Floorspace

  • New business use floorspace outside the Policy Areas (see Figure 15 and Policies 115-123) will not normally be permitted. Within the Policy Areas, new business use floorspace will not normally be permitted except on:
    • sites listed at the end of this policy and shown on the Inset Map; or
    • other suitable sites in the following Policy Areas where the Council is seeking to concentrate business nse development:
      • Policy Area 5 : Central Office Core (see Policy 119)
      • Policy Area 8 : City Station/former London Road Station (see Policy 122)
      • Policy Area 9 : Former Gas Works site and adjoining land (see Policy 123)

2. Harpenden Town Centre: New Business Use Floorspace

  • Development will not normally be permitted except on the sites listed at the end of this policy and shown on the Inset Map;

3. Upper floors of premises in Retail Frontages

  • Change of use to business use development in the upper floors of premises in the retail frontages will normally be permitted unless the proposal is contrary to Policy 10 (loss of existing dwellings). However, business use development will not normally be permitted at ground floor level in these frontages;

4. Employment Areas

  • Business Use floorspace will normally be permitted in the employment areas listed in Policy 20 except for area EMP.7;

5. Marconi and Timber Yard Site, Hatfield Road, St. Albans: and High Street/thseldine Road, London Colney

  • Business use development would be acceptable on the Hatfield Road site, whilst a mixed use redevelopment including business use is proposed at High Strect/Haseldine Road;

6. Existing business use premises on unallocated sites

  • Extensions or redevelopment on existing employment sites not covered by (i)-(v) above will be assessed against Policy 24.

Other Proposals

Business use proposals not in accordance with any of the above points will normally he resisted unless:

  • the location is inappropriate for alternative uses by reason of local environmental conditions or site constraints; or
  • business use development would secure a specific planning objective of overriding importance (such as the conservation of a listed building) which could not he achieved from another use.

Please also see table on pages 55 to 57

For more information please see the Local Plan