®Planning appeal decision
The Old Pheasantry Merrywood Grove, Lower Kingswood, TADWORTH, KT20 7HF
change of use of part of the building to a school
- Authority
- Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- community-institutional · Change of use
- Inspector
- Pattison B
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal is inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework (2021) and any relevant development plan policies
- The effect on the openness of the Green Belt
- Whether the school use is in a suitable location having regard to accessibility by sustainable modes of transport and highway safety
- If the proposal is inappropriate development, whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify it
What decided it
The provision of a much-needed Special Education Needs School serving a significant catchment area with a demonstrated deficit in such provision, combined with the inability to identify more suitable alternative sites, amounts to very special circumstances that clearly outweigh the limited harm to Green Belt openness and inappropriateness.
Framework references: 95, 105, 113, 148, 149, 150
Plan policies cited: Policy CS3, Policy CS13, Policy CS17, Policy DES1, Policy DES9, Policy TAP1, Policy NHE5
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.