®Planning appeal decision
Solihull Road, Catherine de Barnes, Solihull
a motorway service area, associated highway improvement works and other associated infrastructure
- Authority
- Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- other · Major retail and services
- Inspector
- Boniface M
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the extent to which the development would harm the Green Belt and its purposes
- the effect on the character and appearance of the area, including landscape and visual effects
- 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 the development
What decided it
The comparative scale of unavoidable Green Belt harm and whether the cumulative benefits (principally the safety/welfare need for an MSA, economic benefits and, for Appeal B, heritage benefits at Walford Hall Farm) clearly outweighed that harm so as to amount to very special circumstances.
For Appeal A, the cumulative benefits (need, safety/welfare, economic, highway, landscape and biodiversity benefits) did not clearly outweigh the very considerable Green Belt harm and other identified harms, so the balance tipped against the proposal; for Appeal B, the cumulative benefits clearly outweighed the lesser Green Belt harm and all other harms, tipping the balance in favour of granting permission.
Plan policies cited: Policy P7, Policy P8, Policy P9, Policy P10, Policy P11, Policy P14, Policy P15, Policy P16, Policy P17, Policy VC1, Policy T3, Policy T5, Policy ENV1, Policy ENV4
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.