Highlee Top Farm, Barkisland, Halifax, HX4 0DE

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• whether or not the appeal proposal would constitute inappropriate development in the Green Belt
• the implications on the openness of the Green Belt
• the effect of the appeal proposal on protected species
• the effect of the appeal proposal on the character and appearance of the host building and the designated Special Landscape Area with particular regard to scale and design
• should the appeal proposal constitute inappropriate development, whether or not any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly out-weighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify it

What decided it

The failure to submit a bat survey to establish whether the proposal would harm protected species, contrary to paragraph 175 of the Framework and Policy NE 16 of the Local Plan, could not be remedied by condition and rendered the proposal unacceptable.

The absence of harm to Green Belt openness and character and appearance was outweighed by the potential for unquantified harm to biodiversity in the absence of a required bat survey, which was not significantly and demonstrably outweighed by any benefits when assessed against the Framework as a whole.