Land Adjacent to Theedhams Farm, Southminster, CM0 7BD

the “demolition of existing building and construction of new building to be divided into up to 8 business units for Class E (formerly Class B1 and/or use Class D1) purposes

Authority: Maldon District 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

Appeal A and B – Flood Risk
Appeal B – the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The proposal fails the sequential test for flood risk as it has not been demonstrated that there are no other sequentially preferable alternative sites at lower flood risk, contrary to paragraphs 159, 161 and 162 of the Framework.

The benefits of providing additional employment space were outweighed by the failure to satisfy the sequential test for flood risk and the requirement to direct development away from areas at highest risk of flooding.

Framework references: 159, 161, 162, 167, 168, 84, 85, 130

Plan policies cited: Policy E1, Policy S1, Policy S8, Policy D1, Policy D5

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.