Offices in Police Station Lane, Bushey to become flats

Hertsmere Borough Council granted prior approval to a planning application for Grosvenor House, Police Station Lane, Bushey, yesterday (September 25) after it was submitted in July.

The proposal sought to keep the exterior of the building, most recently a Philip Ross Solicitors office, the same while dividing it and rearranging the inside to create two three-bedroom homes.

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Plans show that each property would have three bedrooms, a bathroom, and a hall/study on the ground floor and an open plan kitchen/lounge upstairs. The largest bedroom was proposed with an en-suite.

Under the latest planning rules, certain buildings including offices can be converted into homes without full planning permission from the council and are ‘permitted developments’.

Grosvenor House, Police Station Lane, Bushey. (Image: Google Maps/Canva) The prior approval process for these changes instead only looks at a small number of impacts such as transport and highways, minimum space standards, and flood risk.

A neighbour objected to the plan but the council officer assessing the proposal judged that the comments did not relate to considerations in the prior approval assessment process.