®Planning appeal decision
Land off Spruce Close , Exeter, EX4 9DR
for up to 93 residential dwellings (approval sought for details of access only, with scale, layout, appearance and landscaping all reserved for future consideration)
- Authority
- Exeter City Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Porter H
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the appeal site offers an appropriate location for the proposed development, having regard to the development plan and whether services and facilities could be accessed by sustainable modes
- The effect of the proposed development on the character and local distinctiveness of the area, including Exeter's 'Landscape Setting'
- Whether loss of open space would be replaced by equivalent or better provision
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance, and the substantial benefits of housing and affordable housing delivery outweighed the limited landscape/character harm identified.
The significant weight given to market housing delivery and substantial weight to affordable housing, together with moderate benefits from the Valley Park and bus service improvements, outweighed the limited harm to character and local distinctiveness and conflict with saved Policy LS1, such that the adverse impacts of granting permission did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.
Framework references: 11, 55, 99, 174
Plan policies cited: Policy H1, Policy LS1, Policy CP16, Policy L3
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.