Land north of no. 17 Gosfield Road, High Garrett, Essex, CM7 5NZ

construction of 4 no. new dwellings, new access from Gosfield Road and associated development

Authority: Braintree District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Smith A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect upon the character and appearance of the area
Whether the site represents an appropriate location for housing, having particular regard to access to facilities and services

What decided it

The proposal's considerable harm to character and appearance through loss of undeveloped rural land, combined with the site's inappropriate location for housing due to poor accessibility to facilities and services, outweighed the modest benefits of four additional housing units.

The modest benefits of housing delivery and economic support were outweighed by considerable harm to character and appearance and limited accessibility to facilities and services, with the development plan policies not being out-of-date and the presumption in favour of sustainable development not applying

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy RLP2, Policy RLP80, Policy RLP90, Policy CS5, Policy CS7, Policy SP3, Policy SP7, Policy LPP1, Policy LPP71

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.

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.