Oak Hill, Beggar Hill, Ingatestone, Essex, CM4 0PQ

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the revised National Planning Policy Framework and relevant development plan policies
• The effect on the openness of the Green Belt
• Whether the proposed development would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Fryerning Conservation Area
• Would the harm by reason of inappropriateness and any other harm, be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The disproportionate size and scale of the proposed extensions relative to the original building, combined with the resulting moderate harm to the openness of the Green Belt, were not clearly outweighed by other considerations, meaning the very special circumstances required to justify Green Belt development did not exist.