®Planning appeal decision
Land at Plot 32 Roydon Lodge Chalet Estate, Roydon, CM19 5EF
Without planning permission: The material change in the use of the Land from a recreational leisure plot use to a residential use including the stationing of static caravans, touring caravans and associated development, including the installation of a cess pit and hardstanding
- Authority
- Epping Forest District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- caravan-gypsy · Change of use
- Inspector
- Lewis D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm resulting from the caravan site, is clearly outweighed by other considerations to provide the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development
What decided it
The unmet need for traveller pitches, absence of a five-year supply of deliverable sites, lack of alternative accommodation and the occupiers' serious personal circumstances amounted to very special circumstances that clearly outweighed the Green Belt and flood risk harm, but only for a temporary period.
The substantial Green Belt harm and significant flood risk harm, together with lesser harms, were not clearly outweighed by other considerations on a permanent basis, but when a temporary time-limited use was considered, the totality of harm was clearly outweighed by the need for traveller sites, the shortfall in supply and the occupiers' personal circumstances, justifying a four-year temporary permission.
Plan policies cited: Policy GB2A, Policy RST10A, Policy H10A, Policy CP1, Policy GB7A, Policy CP2, Policy U2A, Policy NC1, Policy LL3, Policy SP 2, Policy SP 4, Policy SP 5, Policy H 4, emerging Policy DM 2, emerging Policy DM 22
Judgments cited: Pitman v Secretary of State for the Environment [1989] JPL 831
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.