®Planning appeal decision
First Grade Recycling Systems Ltd, Ivory House, Crossways, Cockfield, Suffolk, IP30 0LN
Planning appeal 3306364 at First Grade Recycling Systems Ltd, Ivory House, Crossways, Cockfield, Suffolk, IP30 0LN (Babergh District Council) was dismissed on 25 October 2023 by Inspector Woodward M, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the site is a suitable location for the proposed development having regard to local and national planning policy, accessibility, need, and the character and appearance of the surrounding area.
Erection of new workshop building with the existing access to the site from the A1141 upgraded
- Authority
- Babergh District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- employment-industrial · Minor general industry/storage/warehousing
- Inspector
- Woodward M
- Postcode
- IP30 0LN
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the site is a suitable location for the proposed development having regard to local and national planning policy, accessibility, need, and the character and appearance of the surrounding area
What decided it
The site's countryside location outside defined settlements, poor relationship with existing development, failure to demonstrate justifiable need, and inadequate exploration of alternative sites, combined with conflict with the development plan's spatial strategy, outweighed the significant economic and employment benefits.
The significant economic benefits of job creation (approximately 24 full-time equivalent jobs), retention of existing employment, and support for local services and the district economy were outweighed by substantial conflict with the development plan's spatial strategy directing employment development to sustainable locations within the settlement hierarchy, the site's poor relationship with existing settlements, and moderate harm to character and appearance.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy CS2Policy CS3Policy CS11Policy CS15Policy EM19Policy EM20Policy SP05Policy SP03Policy LP09
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 48Paragraph 219Paragraph 81Paragraph 84Paragraph 85
- Judgments
- R (East Bergholt Parish Council) v Babergh DC & Aggett [2016] EWHC 3400 (Admin); R (Clive Gare) v Babergh District Council v Lewis Morgan Limited [2019] EWHC 2041 (Admin)
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.