Former Yelland Power Station, Lower Yelland, Barnstaple, EX31 3EZ

Authority: North Devon District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Normington S

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the Council behaved unreasonably in refusing planning permission for each of its four reasons for refusal, thereby directly causing the appellant to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal process

What decided it

The Council's failure to produce substantive evidence to justify its first, second and fourth reasons for refusal, contrary to the accepted viability evidence and officer advice.

Framework references: 11, 57, 110, 111

Plan policies cited: FRE01(b), FRE02, FRE02(b), FRE02(d), FRE02(h), ST17, ST18, ST09, DM08A

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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.
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