232, Medlock Road, Failsworth, M35 9NG

Authority: Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: agricultural · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Morgan R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and development plan policy, including the effect on openness
if the development would be inappropriate, whether the harm to the Green Belt would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify it

What decided it

The proposal would fail to preserve the openness of the Green Belt in both visual and spatial terms, constituting inappropriate development for which no very special circumstances existed to justify approval.

Framework references: 137, 147, 149

Plan policies cited: Core Strategy Policy 22

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.

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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.
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