Land at Old Pumping Station, Fambridge Road, South Fambridge, Rochford, Essex, SS4 3LT

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the dwelling constitutes inappropriate development within the Green Belt for the purposes of the National Planning Policy Framework
• If it is inappropriate development, the effect on the Green Belt's openness
• Whether there is any other resultant harm, with particular regard to the site's location within the designated Coastal Protection Belt, and given that the land also falls within Flood Risk Zone 3
• if it is inappropriate development, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development

What decided it

The appellants' personal circumstances (elderly age, sole residence, hardship of displacement) combined with the temporary, conditioned nature of the permission were found to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to outweigh the Green Belt harm.

the limited harm to the Green Belt's openness by reason of inappropriateness was clearly outweighed by the substantial weight given to the appellants' personal circumstances and the temporary nature of the permission, amounting to very special circumstances justifying the development