Orchard House, Westwood Park, Droitwich Spa, WR9 0AE

change of use to domestic garden, and replacement outbuilding to provide annexe accommodation

Authority: Wychavon District Council
Appeal type: householder · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Cooper W

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal's location in the open countryside would be suitable
Whether the proposed works would preserve a) the significance of the Westwood Park Grade II registered park and garden and b) the setting of the Westwood House Grade I listed building

What decided it

The public benefits of the proposal are insufficient to outweigh the less than substantial but considerable harm to the significance of the heritage assets, and the proposal conflicts with development plan policies controlling countryside development.

The limited public benefits of additional housing supply and private family accommodation were outweighed by the less than substantial but considerable harm to the significance of the registered park and garden and the setting of the Grade I listed building.

Framework references: 199, 202

Plan policies cited: Policy SWDP 2, Policy SWDP 1, Policy SWDP 6, Policy SWDP 24

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.