Former Mount Olivet Chapel , Underbank Avenue, Charlestown Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, OL14 8SW

a residential dwelling

Authority: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Wilkinson F

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the appeal site would be an appropriate location for housing having regard to the effect on the character and appearance of the area and the accessibility to services and facilities
the effect of the proposed development on ecology, including protected species

What decided it

The substantial weight attached to the significant and long-lasting harm to character, appearance and sustainability of location substantially and demonstrably outweighed the moderate benefits of housing delivery and limited social and economic benefits from a single dwelling.

The adverse impacts of granting permission (harm to character and appearance, unsustainable location, ecological uncertainty) significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits (one dwelling contribution to housing supply, construction employment, support for local services), assessed against the Framework taken as a whole.

Framework references: 80, 11

Plan policies cited: Policy NE8, Policy GP2, Policy BE5, Policy BE1, Policy NE12, Policy NE16, Policy NE15

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.