®Planning appeal decision
Land at Stanbridge Road, Great Billington, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9JH
Without planning permission, the material change of use of land from the dismantling, repair and sales of vehicles (sui generis) to a waste transfer, processing and recycling use (sui generis use) including the erection of a metal curved sided building for waste recovery purposes and four-metre-high concrete panel boundary screening along the Stanbridge Road frontage
- Authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- minerals-waste · Change of use
- Inspector
- Willows P
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the development on the openness of the Green Belt and its purposes
- Its effect on the character and appearance of the area
- Its effect on the living conditions of residents in the locality, with regard to any noise and disturbance arising from the use of the land
- Whether any harm due to inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development
What decided it
The substantial benefits of subjecting the site to detailed planning conditions (where the previous lawful use was uncontrolled), combined with the significant benefit of the waste transfer facility, clearly outweighed the identified Green Belt harm, amounting to very special circumstances.
The substantial benefits of improved planning control through conditions and the significant benefit of the waste transfer facility clearly outweighed the small harm to Green Belt openness and the harm from inappropriateness, tipping the balance in favour of the development.
Framework references: 149, 150, 138
Plan policies cited: Policy WSP3, Policy HQ1, Policy EE5, Policy CC8, Policy WSP1, Policy WSP6, Policy SP4, Policy CC5
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.