Former Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education, 50 Topsham Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4NF

redevelopment for retirement living accommodation for older people (sixty years of age and/or partner over fifty five years of age) comprising 84 retirement apartments including communal facilities, access, car parking and landscaping

Authority: Exeter City Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Wilde J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether or not the proposed development should make a contribution, secured by legal agreement, to the delivery of affordable housing in accordance with policy CP7 of the Exeter Core Strategy and the provisions of the off-site affordable housing contributions set out in the affordable housing SPD.

What decided it

The substantial cumulative benefits of the 84-unit retirement scheme were not significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the harm arising from the loss of an affordable housing contribution, under the NPPF tilted balance.

The substantial benefits of the scheme (housing delivery, economic and social benefits, efficient use of land) were weighed against the adverse impact of conflict with Policy CP7 (loss of affordable housing contribution) and found not to be significantly and demonstrably outweighed, so the tilted balance favoured allowing the appeal.

Framework references: 60, 64

Plan policies cited: Policy CP7, Policy T10

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.