Church Farm Church Lane, Backford, CHESTER, CH2 4BE

Authority: Cheshire West and Chester
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: agricultural · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Brook S

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the appeal scheme would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the NPPF and any relevant development plan policies
Whether there is an essential need for a rural worker to live permanently on the site
If the development is inappropriate, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, that amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development

What decided it

The failure to demonstrate an essential need for a further worker to live permanently on the site, combined with the development's impact on Green Belt openness, means the very special circumstances necessary to justify inappropriate development do not exist.

Framework references: 80, 84, 148, 150

Plan policies cited: Policy STRAT 9, Policy DM19, Policy DM25

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.

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