Land at and adjacent Hulton Park, Manchester Road, Over Hulton, Bolton, BL5 1BH

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the harm to the Green Belt, and any other relevant harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify it
• Whether the scheme changes would give rise to additional Green Belt and/or other harm beyond that associated with the consented scheme
• Whether the scheme changes would result in the same level of benefits to be weighed against the harm
• Dependent on the above, whether very special circumstances still exist for the proposed development

What decided it

The appeal scheme delivered materially greater benefits and less Green Belt/heritage harm than the fallback consented scheme, so that very special circumstances clearly outweighed the identified Green Belt and other harms.

The substantial Green Belt harm and lesser non-Green Belt harms (landscape character, agricultural land, out-of-date settlement boundary policies) were clearly outweighed by the heritage enhancement, very substantial socio-economic benefits, substantial ecological benefits, very significant highway benefits and the significant reduction in Green Belt harm compared with the consented scheme, such that very special circumstances existed and the development plan as a whole was complied with.