®Planning appeal decision
Thrift Farm Barn Horkesley Hill, Nayland, COLCHESTER, CO6 4JP
to retain six underground containers (coloured pink on the photograph) whose purpose is to support the earth bank to the south of the new workshop and to protect the mature oak tree on the south east boundary. 2. To retain a parking area for approximately fifteen to twenty vehicles on the land to the south of the site (coloured green on the photograph). Please note in excess of fifty trees were planted in January 2019 which will reduce visual impact along the western boundary, on the top of the earth bank and on the eastern road boundary (marked with crosses on the photograph). They are a mixture of native species, listed in the attached Woodland Trust information sheet”
- Authority
- Colchester Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- employment-industrial · Minor retail and services
- Inspector
- Wyatt G
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the developments on the character and appearance of the area, including the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the setting of the adjacent listed barn
What decided it
The parking area and underground containers in Appeal A represented new development that failed to conserve or enhance the landscape character of the AONB and harmed its integrity, whereas the office building and storage containers in Appeals B and C were read as part of the existing business cluster and caused no such harm.
The Inspector applied great weight to conserving the AONB as required by NPPF paragraph 176, finding that the office building and containers could be retained consistently with this protection and business expansion under NPPF paragraph 84, but that the parking area and underground containers could not be justified within the AONB's highest protection status.
Framework references: 176, 84
Plan policies cited: Policy DP9, Policy UR2, Policy EV1, Policy DP1, Policy DP14, Policy DP22
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.