®Planning appeal decision
Site of former Knowle House, Sagars Road, Handforth, SK9 3EA
erection of 26 dwellings of which 13 affordable with improvement to existing access
- Authority
- Cheshire East
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Caines A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal amounts to inappropriate development in the Green Belt, with particular regard to the effect on the openness of the Green Belt
- the effect on the purposes of including land within the Green Belt
- the effect on the character and appearance of the area
- If the proposal is inappropriate development, whether the harm by reason of 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 other considerations, including the significant benefit of affordable housing, did not clearly outweigh the substantial harm to Green Belt openness and the other harm identified, so the very special circumstances required to justify inappropriate development did not exist.
Substantial harm to Green Belt openness (substantial weight) and significant harm to character and appearance were weighed against other considerations including significant weight for affordable housing provision and modest/limited weight for other benefits, and the harm was not clearly outweighed, so the balance tipped against the proposal.
Framework references: 149, 138, 147, 148
Plan policies cited: Policy PG3, Policy SD1, Policy SD2, Policy SD4, Policy H8, Policy SE4, Policy SE5, Policy SC5, Policy SE1, Policy PG6, Policy H1
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.