Land adjacent to Upton Cottage, Plantation Farm, Blandford, Dorset, DT11 8BZ

the erection of 1 no. dwelling

Authority: Dorset
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Spencer-Peet A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The suitability of the appeal site for the proposed development having regard to local and national planning policy for the supply of housing and the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area with reference to the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (the AONB)

What decided it

The harm to the AONB from encroachment of built form into undeveloped countryside, combined with the unsustainable location requiring reliance on private motor vehicles, provided a clear reason for refusal under the Framework and displaced the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

The limited benefits of the proposal (modest employment during construction and a small contribution to supporting local services) were outweighed by the significant harm to the AONB and the unsustainable location, with the AONB protection in Footnote 7 of paragraph 11(d)(i) providing a clear reason for refusal.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy 1, Policy 2, Policy 4, Policy 20

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.