Land Known as Four Acre Upper Woods, Fort Lane, Reigate, Surrey, KT20 7BA

the development consisting of:- 1. The importation of large quantities of chalk onto the land (laid in piles for the creation of a proposed track) in the approximate location marked as a black dashed line between point A to B on the plan attached to the enforcement notice. 2. The creation of a raised chalk track across the land in the approximate location marked as a black dashed line between point C to D on the attached plan

Authority: Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
Appeal type: enforcement · Enforcement Notice
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: other · Other minor developments
Inspector: Peerless K

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

On Appeal B: whether the Council's decision to refuse the application for a LDC was well founded or whether the trackway has been in use as such for at least 10 years prior to the date of the application for a LDC
On Appeal A, ground (c): whether the development enforced is a breach of planning control that requires a grant of planning permission to authorise it
On Appeal A, ground (a): whether the development that has been carried out represents inappropriate development within the Green Belt and, if so, whether there are any material considerations that outweigh the harm caused by such development and are sufficient to justify the proposal on the grounds of very special circumstances
On Appeal A, ground (a): the effect of the proposed track on the character and appearance of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV)

What decided it

The Inspector's assessment of aerial photographic evidence and site inspection findings that the track from A to E had been in use for the requisite 10-year period, while the chalk piles between E and B lacked any authorised purpose and caused unacceptable harm to Green Belt openness and landscape character.

Plan policies cited: CS2, CS3, NHE1, NH5

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.