®Planning appeal decision
Land East of Lodge Road, Hurst, RG10 0DN
approximately 200 homes, open space, pedestrian and cycle links, recreational facilities (Class E) and other associated infrastructure including the formation of a new highway access road from Lodge Road located adjacent to the existing field access to be closed
- Authority
- Wokingham Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Wildsmith D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The extent to which the proposed development would be consistent with the development plan for the area, and the weight to be given to relevant policies
- The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the appeal site and the surrounding area, in landscape and visual terms
- The effect on trees and hedgerows
- The effect on BMV agricultural land
- Whether the appeal site represents a sustainable location
- The effect of the proposed development in terms of highway safety
- Whether the submitted planning obligations would satisfactorily address the impact of the proposed development
What decided it
The proposal's conflict with the Council's adopted spatial vision and settlement hierarchy, reinforced by landscape harm, unsustainable location and uncertain BNG mitigation, meant the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits.
The adverse impacts of the proposal—substantial harm from conflict with the development plan's spatial vision, moderate landscape/visual harm, modest harm from loss of BMV land, and uncertainty over BNG mitigation—significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits of housing delivery and other advantages, so the tilted balance favoured refusal.
Framework references: 8, 11, 57, 60, 104, 105, 167, 174, 219
Plan policies cited: CS Policy CP1, CS Policy CP2, CS Policy CP3, CS Policy CP6, CS Policy CP7, CS Policy CP9, CS Policy CP11, CS Policy CP17, MDDLP Policy CC01, MDDLP Policy CC02, MDDLP Policy CC03, MDDLP Policy TB21, MDDLP Policy TB23, Replacement Minerals Local Plan for Berkshire Policy 2
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.