BT Exchange, Fair Green Road, Baldwins Gate, ST5 5BU

a monopole style telecommunications mast, antennas and ground based cabinets and associated development

Authority: Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: telecoms · Minor retail and services
Inspector: Jones D

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the siting and appearance of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area and, if any harm is identified, whether it would be outweighed by the need for the installation to be sited as proposed taking into account any suitable alternatives

What decided it

The harm to character and appearance caused by the siting of a 20-metre monopole in a predominantly residential area with two-storey dwellings, combined with insufficient evidence that alternative sites had been properly explored, outweighed the moderate benefits of improved telecommunications connectivity.

Framework references: 114, 117

Plan policies cited: Policy CSP1 of the Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent Core Spatial Strategy 2006-2026, Policy T19 of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Local Plan 2011, Policy DC2 of the Chapel and Hill Chorlton, Maer and Aston, and Whitmore Neighbourhood Development Plan

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.