Cooks Farm, Partmans Hill, Stoke St Michael, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA3 5LE

the erection of a dwelling and formation of a new access

Authority: Mendip District Council *
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Murray D

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal accords with the development strategy
The effect on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance under NPPF paragraph 11(d), which, combined with the site's reasonable accessibility and the proposed dwelling's sympathetic design that respects the verdant character of the area, outweighed the conflict with restrictive development plan policies.

The restrictive development plan policies (CP1, CP2, CP4) against the principle of development were outweighed by the site's reasonable accessibility, the proposal's accordance with sustainable development principles in the Framework, and the architectural form of the new dwelling which respects the verdant context and complements rather than harms the local environment, resulting in the appeal being allowed.

Framework references: 11, 9

Plan policies cited: Core Policy 1, Core Policy 2, Core Policy 4, Policy DP7

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.

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