TOTALISATOR BUILDING, LEWES OLD RACECOURSE, LEWES, BN7 1UR

change of use of part of an empty and redundant stable block from equestrian use to storage use

Authority: South Downs
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: employment-industrial · Other minor developments
Inspector: Harley S

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the site is an appropriate location for the proposed storage use in terms of the development strategy
Whether the proposal conserves or enhances the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park
Whether satisfactory parking and loading/unloading facilities would be available

What decided it

The site is not an appropriate location for storage use in terms of the development strategy, and the proposal would cause limited but real harm to the National Park's character and heritage without sufficient material considerations to justify approval contrary to the development plan.

Plan policies cited: Policy SD25, Policy SD34, Policy SD19, Policy SD4, Policy SD5, Policy SD6, Policy SD22

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.