®Planning appeal decision
5 Whittle Lane, Heywood, OL10 2RB
Planning appeal 3272939 at 5 Whittle Lane, Heywood, OL10 2RB (Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council) was dismissed on 4 August 2021 by Inspector Wilson L, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the proposal is inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of the Framework and development plan policy.
new storage building for machinery used in the maintenance of 7 acres of grounds consisting mainly of meadow type grassland and grassy verges and trees to the site boundaries including mini-tractor, sit-on mowers
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- agricultural · Minor general industry/storage/warehousing
- Inspector
- Wilson L
- Postcode
- OL10 2RB
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal is inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of the Framework and development plan policy
- The effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
- If the development is inappropriate, whether the harm, by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, and if so, would this amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal
What decided it
The activity of maintaining grassland for amenity purposes does not constitute agriculture within the statutory definition, so the building cannot fall within the agricultural exception to Green Belt policy, and the harm to openness and inappropriateness is not clearly outweighed by other considerations.
The substantial harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness and harm to openness was not clearly outweighed by the limited weight given to equipment storage needs and neutral considerations regarding design and conservation area impact.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy G4 of the Rochdale Adopted Core Strategy (2016)
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 149
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
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With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.