Former Tavistock and Summerhill School, Summerhill Lane, Lindfield, RH16 1RP

erection of 38 residential dwellings comprising 4 houses and 34 flats with associated internal access, surface-level car parking, landscaping and other infrastructure

Authority: Mid Sussex District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Gilbert J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The main issue in this appeal is the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area.

What decided it

The negative effect of the proposed development's layout, massing, design and proportions on the character and appearance of the Summerhill Lane/West Common Area of Townscape Character.

The benefits of the proposal, including affordable housing provision, sustainable location and optimisation of a brownfield site, were outweighed by the harm to the character and appearance of the area, so the adverse impacts outweighed the benefits.

Framework references: 69, 130, 172

Plan policies cited: MSDP Policy DP26, LLRNP Policy 7, LLRNP Policies 1 and 2, MSDP Policy DP31, MSDP Policy DP20

Judgments cited: Bernard Wheatcroft Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment [JPL 1982]; Holborn Studios Ltd v London Borough of Hackney [EWHC 2823 (Admin)]

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.