Development Intent
AtlasRichmond Upon ThamesOfficersAndrew Vaughan
Case officer · Richmond Upon Thames Planning

Andrew Vaughan.

Active — last recorded decision May 2026

A case officer at Richmond Upon Thames with an approval rate of 75% across 95 decided planning applications, spanning 17 wards.[1] Decision speed and appeal performance publish when decision notices are ingested.

Planning officer95 decisions75% approvalSave
Richmond Upon Thames · ward map
Approval rate — by ward
Lower ~68%
Higher ~90%
ShowingAll years · subscriber →across all years on record — a period re-scopes the headline figures and the trend
At a glanceEach metric links to the investigation behind it
All investigations →
95
Applications
2020–26
Approval rate over time — tougher or softer 🔒Dashed line = London average
avg 81%71%202082%202168%202267%202383%202471%2025100%2026
Approval-rate trend is subscriber dataSubscribe to see the trend →
What they decide — by application type
How they compareVersus peers
Approval rate75% · 56th of 67
higher is betterdashed = London avg
Decision time · publishes with decision notices
in development
Appeal overturn · publishes with decision notices
in development
How this officer decides — from their own reports35 officer reports parsed
40%
Approves despite concerns
of approvals record a documented reservation
20%
Negotiated approvals
approvals mentioning revisions/amendments
23%
"On balance" reports
reports using explicit balancing language
87%
Bespoke reasoning
of report text written for the case, not recited
What they write about — vs Richmond Upon Thames's average officer

Topic mentions per 1,000 words of their own report text (boilerplate stripped), indexed against all parsed Richmond Upon Thames reports. Attention, not stance.

Energy & sustainability
2.68× borough avg
Daylight & sunlight
2.1× borough avg
Transport & parking
1.49× borough avg
Precedent & consistency
1.47× borough avg
Trees & landscape
1.03× borough avg

Mark = borough average (1×). Bar capped at 2×.

How they reason — coded from their reports

Vaughan's reports frequently work through a numbered list of 'key issues for consideration' (Principle, Design, Neighbour Amenity, Trees, Fire Safety etc.) as distinct headed sections, and he draws on planning history and appeal decisions as material considerations, including referencing his own borough's prior refusals and Inspector findings on the same or comparable sites. Several reports concern non-householder matters (Use Class E changes, MOL, telecoms, Green Belt/office policy) rather than only routine extensions.

Observable habits

· lists numbered 'key issues for consideration' (e.g. Principle, Design, Neighbour Amenity, Trees, Fire Safety) as the report's own structure before assessing each

· treats a prior appeal decision on the same site as a 'material consideration of substantial weight' and explicitly directs subsequent assessment around it

· when refusing, ties reasoning to a named external precedent (e.g. a previous Inspector decision on the same building) rather than relying only on the SPD text

What their reports consistently look for

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: whether a prior appeal decision on the same site or comparable scheme should carry substantial weight in the current assessment

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: separation distances and boundary gaps between neighbouring extensions rather than depth alone

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: whether a proposal in MOL/Green Belt is proportionate compared to a fallback Permitted Development scheme

Assigned Andrew Vaughan on a live case?What they pay attention to, how they reason, and what their reports consistently look for — so you can address it before they raise it.Subscribe to unlock →
In their own words

The proposed inset addition, canopy and rooflight and replacement would not visible from the streetscape and will be constructed in matching materials. This proposal will ensure that the western elevation of the dwelling will retain a uniform and cohesive appearance.

20/2953/HOT

The existing equipment on the roof was installed following an appeal. A subsequent appeal against the refusal for yet more telecommunications equipment over and above this was dismissed for very clear reasons by the Council, which were subsequently agreed by a Planning Inspector in the resultant appeal

20/2963/FUL

At 3.45 metres and with a width of in excess of 5 metres and depth of over 4 metres the proposed garden building would be significantly higher than other outbuildings in neighbouring gardens within Enmore gardens which are of a more incidental nature.

21-2117-HOT 37 Enmore gardens Garden room Andrew Vaughan

Measured from 35 published Richmond Upon Thames officer reports written by this officer, with recited policy boilerplate stripped before any counting. These describe how this officer works and writes — they are not outcome predictions. Every quote is from a named public report.

Policy playbook — what this officer cites[3]

The policies this officer cites most in their own reports — times cited across 35 parsed reports. Whether refusals citing each survive appeal isn't traced per policy yet.

D12Teddington School
9 times cited
D4Teddington Station
8 times cited
D14
7 times cited
GG1
7 times cited
D5Queens Road Clinic
6 times cited
HC1
6 times cited
GG2
5 times cited
D6The Causeway, Teddington
5 times cited
Which policies this officer leans on is subscriber intelligenceSubscribe to unlock →
Decisions by ward

Where this officer's caseload concentrates, 2020–26.[1] Click the map above to focus this page on a ward, or a row to open the ward.

Recent applications
Address
Reference
Type
Outcome
Date
PA25/1503
Full Application
Approved
2026-05-29
PA26/1816
Listed Building Consent
2026-05-26
PA25/1503
Full Application
Approved
2026-05-29
PA26/1816
Listed Building Consent
2026-05-26
Full application history locked
Subscribe to see all 95 decisions →
Consultants approved most— subscriber data
1. The Planning Lab
2. WHP Telecoms Limited
3. Marinko Ltd
4. Create Planning
At a glance
OfficerAndrew Vaughan
RolePlanning officer
Experience
Applications95 (2020–26)
Approval rate75%
London approval avg81%
Who decides here
GovernmentMayor of LondonCouncilCommitteeOfficersDecisionsApplicantsInspectorate
Related investigations
When committees overrule officers like this one →
How often members depart from officer recommendations, and how those overrides fare at appeal.
How much gets decided without a committee →
The delegated share by borough and officer — where the real power over decisions sits.
Sources & method
  1. [1]Applications decided, approval rate, per-year trend and ward breakdown — London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames planning register and published decision notices, 2020–26. · methodology
  2. [2]Appeal overturn and decision-time benchmarks — Planning Inspectorate (PINS) appeal decisions and application date pairs; not yet computed per officer, shown as a dash until they are. · PINS appeals casework
  3. [3]Condition load — Richmond Upon Thames's decision-notice parsing is limited coverage, so no borough or officer figure is shown.
  4. [4]"How this officer decides", the policy playbook and all quotes — parsed from 35 published Richmond Upon Thames officer reports written by this officer, recited policy boilerplate stripped before counting; disposition text coded from their own reasoning with every quote machine-verified verbatim. Descriptive of how they work — not outcome predictions.
Methodology is published in full so every number is traceable to its primary source.