Hooton Grange Garage, Hooton Crossroads, Hooton, Wirral, CH66 6AQ

an application for outline planning permission for domestic dwellings to replace the present commercial activities operating from this site

Authority: Cheshire West and Chester
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Dakeyne M

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal represents inappropriate development in the Green Belt
The effect on the character and appearance of the area
Whether the use would result in a sustainable pattern of development, with particular reference to accessibility to services
The effect on highway safety
The effect on biodiversity
Whether any harm to the Green Belt and any other harm is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to constitute very special circumstances

What decided it

The substantial weight given to inappropriate Green Belt development and the other identified harms (character and appearance, unsustainable location, highway safety, and biodiversity loss) were not clearly outweighed by the economic and social benefits of new housing, meaning very special circumstances did not exist to justify the development.

Framework references: 149

Plan policies cited: Policy STRAT 9, Policy STRAT 1, Policy STRAT 2, Policy STRAT 10, Policy R1, Policy ENV4, Policy DM44, Policy DM45, Policy T5

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.