Hopkiln House, Mumfords Hill, Wethersfield, CM7 4AW

extensions to existing barn and conversion to a single dwellinghouse

Authority: Braintree District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Smith A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect upon the rural economy
The effect upon the character and appearance of the existing barn and its surroundings
Whether or not the site represents an appropriate location for housing, having particular regard to access to facilities and services

What decided it

The considerable harms to character and appearance and the site's unsuitability as a location for housing due to isolation from facilities and services, combined with policy conflicts, outweighed the modest benefits of one additional dwelling unit.

The modest benefits of one additional housing unit, construction employment, and local economic support were outweighed by the considerable harms to character and appearance of the barn and its surroundings and the site's unsuitability as an appropriate location for housing due to poor accessibility to facilities and services.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy RLP38, Policy RLP90, Policy CS5, Policy CS7, Policy CS8, Policy SP7, Policy LPP42, Policy LPP55

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.

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