®Planning appeal decision
Council Depot, Bescar Brow Lane, Scarisbrick, ORMSKIRK, L40 9QH
Resubmission of a previously refused application for the erection of 8 no. new dwellings, all with private gardens, in-curtilage car parking and served by the existing crossover and a new internal access road, all following demolition of existing commercial buildings
- Authority
- West Lancashire District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Caine M
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of the Framework and development plan policy
- If the proposal is inappropriate development, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to very special circumstances necessary to justify it
What decided it
The proposed dwellings would have a greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt than the existing development, failing to meet the exception at paragraph 149(g) and constituting inappropriate development that cannot be justified by the other considerations advanced.
The substantial weight given to harm from inappropriateness in the Green Belt was not clearly outweighed by the moderate weight attached to character and appearance improvements, limited weight to viability arguments, and neutral weight to other considerations such as neighbouring amenity and ecology.
Framework references: 149
Plan policies cited: Policy GN1
Judgments cited: Skerritts of Nottingham Ltd v SSETR [2000] EWCA Civ 5569
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.