The Rowans Sidmouth Road, Clyst St. Mary, EXETER, EX5 1DR

change of use of existing agricultural barn & workshop at Crealy Farms to 2 no. 2 bedroom ground floor residential flats

Authority: East Devon District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Davies N

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the site is suitable for two dwellings, having regard to the settlement policies of the development plan and the accessibility of services and facilities
The effect of the development on the integrity of the Exe Estuary SPA and Ramsar site and the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths Special Area of Conservation/SPA

What decided it

The proximity of a safe, segregated footpath to a bus stop within 200 metres, combined with employment opportunities within easy walking distance, provided occupants with realistic and viable alternatives to the private car for day-to-day needs, satisfying the accessibility requirements of the development plan policies.

The accessibility benefits of the location, particularly the convenient bus access and nearby employment, outweighed the countryside location policy restriction, and the secured mitigation through the S111 Agreement addressed the potential harm to European Protected Sites.

Plan policies cited: Strategy 7, Policy D8, Policy TC2

Judgments cited: People over Wind and Sweetman v Coillte Teoranta ECLI:EU:C:2018:244

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.