Land to the west of Bower Hall Lane, 11 East Mersea Road, Colchester, CO5 8SL

described on the application form as ‘residential development

Authority: Colchester Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Simpson L

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, the proposed land use and amount of development

What decided it

The poor access of the site to services and facilities and reliance on private motor vehicles for day-to-day needs rendered the location unsuitable for residential development despite the amount of development being acceptable in principle.

Framework references: 92, 105

Plan policies cited: Core Strategy Policy H1, Core Strategy Policy SD1, Core Strategy Policy ENV1, Development Policy DP1, Development Policy DP23

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.

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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.

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In the app this decision sits on the map beside every other appeal around it, with the full reasoning summary, the letter held on file, and the case law it applies.