®Planning appeal decision
Land Between Haverhill Road And Hinton Way , Stapleford , Cambridge, CB22 5BQ
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
- Authority
- South Cambridgeshire District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Clark P
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.
Framework references: 174, 145, 81
Plan policies cited: Policy S/4, Policy NH/8(1), Policy S/7, Policy HQ/1, Policy NH/2, Policy S/6, Policy CSF/5, Policy SS/8(6)
Judgments cited: Regina (Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council) v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2021] EWHC 1082 (Admin)
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.