Land at Greenacres, Bassetts Lane, Willingale, Ongar, CM5 0QL

On 13 June 2017, by way of an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate (under ref APP/J1535/A/14/2225844), planning permission was granted for “a change of use to a mixed use for the purposes of agricultural and a residential caravan site at Greenacres, Silver Lane, Willingale, Essex CM5 0QL in accordance with the terms of the application ref EPF/0657 dated 24 March 2014 and the location plan submitted with it “subject to conditions

Authority: Epping Forest District Council
Appeal type: enforcement · Enforcement Notice
Procedure: Hearing
Development: caravan-gypsy · Minor traveller and caravan pitches
Inspector: King T

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether conditions 1, 3 and 6 of planning permission APP/J1535/C/14/2225844 remain reasonable and necessary having regard primarily to the openness of the Green Belt and the overall character of this rural location
Local unmet need for gypsy & traveller site provision
The implications of the development for the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
The site's sustainability in locational terms

What decided it

The significant loss of openness to the Green Belt resulting from the sub-division of the site and breach of the conditions controlling its layout.

Other considerations, including unmet gypsy and traveller need, did not outweigh the harm to the Green Belt's openness caused by the breach of the conditions, so the conditions were upheld and the appeal dismissed.

Framework references: 147

Plan policies cited: Policy GB2A, Policy GB7A, Policy H10A, Policy SP6, Policy DM4, Policy H4

Judgments cited: Burdle v SSE & New Forest DC [1972] 1 WLR 1207; Stone & Stone v SSCLG & Cornwall Council [2014] E.WHC 1456; De Mulder v SSE [1973] 27 P&CR 369; Reed v SSCLG [2014] JPL 725; Barton Park Estates Limited v SSHCLG & Dartmoor National Park Authority [2021] EWHC 1200 (Admin); Hertfordshire County Council v SSCLG & Anor [2012] EWCA Civ 1473; Wavedon Properties Ltd v SSHCLG; Samuel Smith Brewery v North Yorkshire CC

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.