®Planning appeal decision
Land at Farleigh Farm and 54 and 56 Farleigh Road, Backwell, BS48 3PD
for demolition of 54 and 56 Farleigh Road; residential development of up to 125 dwellings (Class C3); strategic landscaping and earthworks, surface water drainage and all other ancillary infrastructure and enabling works with means of site access (excluding internal roads) from the new junction off Farleigh Road; all other matters (internal access, layout, appearance, scale and landscaping) reserved for subsequent approval
- Authority
- North Somerset Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Mageean A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the proposal on the spatial strategy for housing development in the settlement and District
- The form of development proposed and its effect on the character of the settlement and its landscape setting, and also on the setting, tranquillity and recreational value of the Farleigh Fields Local Green Space
- Whether the Council is able to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land, and the contribution of the appeal scheme to supply matters
- The consistency or otherwise of the proposal with the development plan taken as a whole, and whether any conflict and harm arising would be outweighed by other material considerations
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply (assessed at 3.5 years), which engaged the tilted balance and reduced the weight attributable to conflict with the settlement strategy, allowing the housing and other benefits to outweigh the residual harm.
The benefits of the proposal, particularly the delivery of market and affordable housing and self-build plots in a context of a significant housing land supply shortfall, together with economic, open space and biodiversity benefits, were found not to be significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the limited/moderate harm arising from conflict with the settlement strategy and character policies.
Framework references: 11, 74, 219, 130, 71, 57
Plan policies cited: CS Policy CS13, CS Policy CS14, CS Policy CS16, CS Policy CS31, CS Policy CS32, CS Policy CS5, CS Policy CS12, DMPP Policy DM10, DMPP Policy DM32, DMPP Policy DM34, SAP Policy SA5, SAP Policy DM37, NP Policy: Development 1, NP Policy: Development 2
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.