Policy information sourced from St Albans District Local Plan
9 Non-Residential Uses Within Residential Areas
Within areas primarily residential in character, the Council will not normally disturb lawfully existing non-residential uses, provided such activities are environmentally acceptable in terms of their visual impact, noise, smell, safety, health or traffic generation.
Within towns and specified settlements (see Policy 2), small scale new non-residential development and redevelopment or extensions to existing sites will normally be permitted in residential areas, where they will not adversely affect their amenity and character by reason of such factors as noise, smell, safety or excessive traffic (see also Policy 24).
Acceptable uses may include:
- public open space and leisure uses (see Policy 90) which do not generate unacceptable vehicular traffic;
- local shops and services;
- schools;
- community facilities such as libraries and small scale doctors and dentists surgeries serving the health care needs of the neighbourhood and small scale facilities serving the religious needs of the neighbourhood;
- small scale residential accommodation for people in need of care and other uses within use class C2 (residential institutions) - (see Policies 10 and 62).
Within Green Belt settlements (see Policy 2), non-residential uses will not normally be permitted unless they are required to meet the local facilities and service needs of the settlement.
Footnote
(1) Doctors and dentists surgeries will be encouraged to:
- locate as near as possible to neighbourhood or local shopping centres which possess a dispensing chemist and adequate car parking;
- provide a dispensary only where the surgery adjoins or forms part of a neighbourhood or local shopping centre.
For more information please see the Local Plan