Westcoates Clayhill Road, Leigh, REIGATE, RH2 8PB

removal of mobile structures and demolition of an open shelter together with a linked barn building conversion of two buildings to 6 No dwellings (C3) with associated access parking and landscaping

Authority: Mole Valley District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Evans L

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposed development would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and any relevant development plan policies
The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the local area
Whether or not a financial contribution to affordable housing should be provided

What decided it

The absence of any contribution towards affordable housing, which is required by Policy CS4 of the Core Strategy for residential developments of 1-9 units in designated rural areas, meant the proposal failed to meet the social objective of the Framework and conflicted with the development plan taken as a whole.

The social and economic benefits of six additional housing units and the environmental benefits of improved Green Belt openness and character were significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the failure to provide any affordable housing contribution, which is required by development plan policy and the Framework for schemes of this size in designated rural areas.

Framework references: 133, 143, 145, 146, 63, 59, 68

Plan policies cited: Policy CS1, Policy CS4, Policy RUD19

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.