®Planning appeal decision
Land Between Haverhill Road And Hinton Way , Stapleford , Cambridge, CB22 5BQ
Planning appeal 3280395 at Land Between Haverhill Road And Hinton Way , Stapleford , Cambridge, CB22 5BQ (South Cambridgeshire District Council) was allowed on 29 December 2021 by Inspector Clark P, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, together with any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal.
a retirement care village in Use Class C2 comprising housing with care, communal health, wellbeing and leisure facilities, public open space, landscaping, car parking, access and associated development and public access countryside park
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Clark P
- Postcode
- CB22 5BX
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, together with any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal
- The effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
- The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
- The benefits of the proposal
What decided it
The combination of unmet critical need for specialist elderly care housing, undelivered biodiversity enhancement sought by local and national policy, and recreational benefits from the countryside park amounted to very special circumstances clearly outweighing the Green Belt harm.
The substantial and disproportionate harm to the Green Belt and its openness, together with lesser landscape, visual and negligible heritage harm, was clearly outweighed by the benefits of the proposal (particularly special care housing provision, biodiversity enhancement and recreational provision), amounting to very special circumstances justifying the grant of permission.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy S/4Policy NH/8(1)Policy S/7Policy HQ/1Policy NH/2Policy S/6Policy CSF/5Policy SS/8(6)
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 174Paragraph 145Paragraph 81
- Judgments
- Regina (Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council) v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2021] EWHC 1082 (Admin)
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
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What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.