®Planning appeal decision
Land Adjacent to White Park Business Estate, Elstree Hill South, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3BL
Planning appeal 3288478 at Land Adjacent to White Park Business Estate, Elstree Hill South, Elstree, Hertfordshire, WD6 3BL (Hertsmere Borough Council) was allowed on 3 April 2025 by Inspector Hitchcock R, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the development is inappropriate in the Green Belt for the purposes of the revised Framework and any relevant development plan policy.
‘Without planning permission, the material change of use of the Land to storage and distribution (Use Class B8 of the Schedule to the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987, as amended,) including the storage of containers, machinery, skips, equipment and materials, together with ancillary parking of vehicles in association with the said use, and the erection of fencing and gates on the land in association with the said use.’
- Authority
- Hertsmere Borough Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- employment-industrial · Change of use
- Inspector
- Hitchcock R
- Postcode
- WD6 3BL
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the development is inappropriate in the Green Belt for the purposes of the revised Framework and any relevant development plan policy
- If so, the effect on the openness of the Green Belt
- The effect on the character and appearance of the locality
- Whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the development
What decided it
The site qualifies as grey belt land under paragraph 155 of the Framework, there is demonstrable unmet need for B8 storage uses, and the location is sustainable with direct access to the strategic road network, such that the development is not inappropriate in the Green Belt.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- SP1SP13CS8SADM30SADM15
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11Paragraph 13Paragraph 57Paragraph 87Paragraph 143Paragraph 153Paragraph 155
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
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With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.