NORMAN, LAND NEW CHERRY ORCHARD GARDENS, WEST MOLESEY, SURREY , KT8 1QY

retrospective application for the mooring of a pleasure craft

Authority: Elmbridge Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Allen R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposals amount to inappropriate development in the Green Belt
the effects on openness and any other harm
the other considerations
whether 'very special circumstances' exist to outweigh the harm from inappropriateness, openness and any other harm

What decided it

Whether 'very special circumstances', in particular the welfare of a dependent child in Appeal E, existed to clearly outweigh the significant harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, loss of openness and other harm.

For Appeals A-D the harm from inappropriateness, loss of openness, flood risk, ecology and character/appearance was not clearly outweighed by other considerations including modest housing/affordable housing benefits; for Appeal E the welfare of the child was found sufficient to outweigh the significant Green Belt harm, justifying a temporary rather than permanent permission.

Framework references: 11, 137, 147, 148, 149, 150, 57

Plan policies cited: Policy DM17, Policy DM13, Policy DM2, Policy DM20, Policy DM22, Policy DM5, Policy DM21, Policy CS26, Policy CS12, Policy CS15

Judgments cited: Alison Hook vs Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Surrey Heath Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 486

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.