®Planning appeal decision
Land off Oxted Road (A25), Oxted, Surrey
a crematorium with ceremony hall, memorial areas, garden of remembrance and associated parking and infrastructure
- Authority
- Tandridge District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- community-institutional · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Price J
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the proposal's effects in respect of the purposes of Green Belt policy
- its effects on the character and appearance of the area, including the setting of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
- whether the Green Belt and any other harm would be clearly outweighed by the need for, and benefits of, the proposal, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the scheme
What decided it
The very substantial weight attached to the significant and growing unmet need for crematorium facilities in the area, which clearly outweighed the moderate Green Belt and landscape/AONB setting harm identified.
the substantial weight given to Green Belt inappropriateness and moderate harm to openness and the AONB setting was clearly outweighed by the very substantial weight attached to crematorium need, together with incidental biodiversity and economic benefits, amounting to very special circumstances
Framework references: 137, 138, 130, 176, 148, 162
Plan policies cited: Policy DP10, Policy CSP 18, Policy DP 7, Policy CSP 20
Judgments cited: Turner v SSCLG & East Dorset Council [2016] EWCA Civ 466; Stroud DC v SSCLG [2015] EWHC 488
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.