®Planning appeal decision
Land at Peel Hall, Warrington, Cheshire, WA2 9TY
a new residential neighbourhood including C2 and C3 uses; local employment (B1 use); local centre including food store up to 2000m2, A1-A5 (inclusive) and D1 use class units of up to 600m2 total (with no single unit of more than 200 m2) and family restaurant/ pub of up to 800m2 (A3/ A4 use); site for primary school; open space including sports pitches with ancillary facilities; means of access and supporting infrastructure
- Authority
- Warrington Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Downes T
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the proposed development on the safety and efficiency of the local and strategic highway network and character of the area to the south of the site
- The effect of the proposed development on the noise environment both within the site and in the surrounding area
- The effect of the proposed development on local air quality
- The contribution the site would make to the housing land supply in the short to medium term
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply (3.4 years) engaged the tilted balance, and the substantial benefits of housing and affordable housing delivery were not significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the highway and character harm, which fell short of a 'severe' residual cumulative impact.
Very substantial weight to market and affordable housing delivery, and significant weight to economic, sporting and open space benefits, outweighed the very significant weight attributed to harm to highway efficiency and character, such that the adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the Framework as a whole.
Framework references: 48, 111, 186, 56, 57, 11
Plan policies cited: Policy MP7, Policy QE6, Policy QE7, Policy QE4, Policy QE5, Policy CS2, Policy SN1, Policy SN2
Judgments cited: (1) Gallagher Homes Limited (2) Lioncourt Homes Limited v Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council [2014] EWHC 1283 (Admin)
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.