Stortford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1SJ

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• the effect of the proposal on the settings of Highwood Farmhouse and the barn listed buildings
• whether the proposal makes satisfactory provision for affordable housing
• whether the proposal could be provided with safe and suitable access to the highway
• whether satisfactory control over the self-build dwellings would be secured

What decided it

The failure to provide affordable housing, combined with less than substantial harm to the setting of the listed building, significantly and demonstrably outweighed the moderate benefits of self-build housing provision under the tilted balance test.

The moderate benefits of providing 14 self-build plots and limited locational and economic benefits were outweighed by the less than substantial harm to the setting of Highwood Farmhouse listed building (to which great weight was given) and the failure to provide affordable housing despite viability (to which considerable weight was afforded), resulting in the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighing the benefits when assessed against Framework policies as a whole.