Floren Farm, Hophurst Hill, Crawley Down, CRAWLEY, RH10 4LP

up to 30 self custom build plots with all matters reserved apart from access

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

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would accord with planning policy regarding the location of housing development.
The effect on the character and appearance of the surroundings.
Whether the proposal would meet sustainable transport objectives by encouraging movement by means other than driving a car.
Whether there are any other material considerations which would justify the development being determined other than in accordance with the development plan.

What decided it

The proposal's conflict with the development plan's spatial strategy for housing location, and the resulting harm, was not outweighed by the benefits including self-build delivery.

significant weight to self-build delivery (enhanced by affordable housing provision) and limited weight to economic and environmental benefits did not outweigh the conflict with the development plan and the harm to character, appearance and sustainable transport objectives

Framework references: 11, 57, 62

Plan policies cited: DP12, DP15, DP21, DP30, DP31, DP20, EG2, EG5

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.