Land off Victoria Road, Horwich, BL6 5PH

residential development of up to 276 dwellings with access and associated works

Authority: Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Jones G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether this would be an acceptable location for housing development, having regards to the spatial strategy in the development plan
The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area, with particular regard to Horwich's landscape setting

What decided it

The absence of a five-year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance, so the benefits of housing delivery were not significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the harms, even taking the Council's and SRA's worst-case position on landscape and character harm.

the considerable benefits of housing delivery, including market and affordable housing, outweighed the limited weight attached to conflict with the spatial strategy and even the very significant weight that might be attached to landscape/character harm, such that the adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the Framework as a whole

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy SC1, Policy OA1, Policy CG6AP, Policy CG3, Policy IPC1

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.