Horse and Groom, Baldock Road, Steeple Morden, SG8 9NS

to demolish existing building and erect B8 self-storage unit with ancillary office

Authority: South Cambridgeshire District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: employment-industrial · Major general industry/storage/warehousing
Inspector: Parsons J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effects of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
Whether the development would be in a sustainable location, having regard to the need to travel and the offering of a genuine choice of transport modes
Protected species
The use of the proposed access/exit on the safety of highway users using the storage facility and the A505

What decided it

The substantial cumulative harm to character and appearance, failure to provide a sustainable location with reduced travel needs and genuine transport choice, and inadequate evidence regarding protected species, taken together, outweighed economic benefits and conflicted with the development plan.

Framework references: 126, 105, 82, 81

Plan policies cited: Policy HQ/1, Policy S/7, Policy TI/2, Policy T/2, Policy NH/4, Policy S/1, Policy S/5, Policy S/6

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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