Blue House Farm, Denebridge Row, Chilton, FERRYHILL, DL17 0HP

the erection of 118 No Dwellings, including 24 No 2 bedroom affordable bungalows (Inc. 2 No will be wheelchair accessible) together with associated infrastructure

Authority: Durham County Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Underwood G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the development would be in an appropriate location for housing development, with particular regard to its relationship with the settlement and its effect on landscape
Whether future occupiers would have satisfactory access to facilities and services

What decided it

The location of the proposal beyond the settlement boundary with poor relationship to the built-up area, combined with moderate unacceptable landscape harm and inadequate non-car accessibility to local services, substantially outweighed the modest benefits of housing delivery and affordable provision.

The modest benefits of 118 new homes, affordable housing (particularly bungalows addressing a shortfall), and limited economic benefits during construction were substantially outweighed by the marked undermining of the plan-led approach, poor settlement relationship with considerable harmful effects, landscape harm, and less than ideal non-car accessibility to local services and facilities.

Framework references: 79

Plan policies cited: CDP Policy 10, CDP Policy 6, CDP Policy 39, CDP Policy 29, CDP Policy 21

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.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.