®Planning appeal decision
New House Farm, Hatton Lane, Hatton, Warrington, WA4 4DA
demolition of existing equestrian buildings and the construction of 31 dwellings including affordable housing provision, associated parking, landscaping and infrastructure and creation of a new area of community open space
- Authority
- Warrington Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Savage K
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to relevant development plan policies, the provisions of the Framework, the effect on the openness of the Green belt and the purposes of including land within it
- Whether the proposal would represent an appropriate location for housing, having regard to the accessibility of the site to local services and facilities
- If the proposal would be inappropriate development whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify it
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites (3.4 years) engaged the presumption in favour of sustainable development under paragraph 11(d)(ii) of the Framework, and the significant benefits of housing delivery, particularly affordable housing provision, clearly outweighed any adverse impacts.
The benefits of housing delivery (31 dwellings including 9 affordable units) and support for rural services in neighbouring villages outweighed the limited increase in Green Belt openness impact, with no other material adverse impacts identified, applying paragraph 11(d)(ii) of the Framework given the Council's housing land supply shortfall
Framework references: 11, 57, 149
Plan policies cited: Policy CS1, Policy CS5, Policy MP1, Policy SN2, Policy QE5
Judgments cited: R (Lee Valley Regional Park Authority) v Broxbourne BC and Britannia Nurseries [2015] EWHC 185 (Admin)
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.