®Planning appeal decision
Land to the west of Osney Lodge Farm, Byers Lane, Godstone, Surrey
change of use of the land to a natural burial ground. Construction of a service hall building associated with the natural burial ground use together with parking, access and landscaping works
- Authority
- Tandridge District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- community-institutional · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Pattison B
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development within the Green Belt having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies and its effect on openness of the Green Belt
- The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the local area with particular regard to the local landscape and the countryside as a whole
- Whether the site is a suitable location for the proposal having regard to local and national planning policy, and the accessibility of the site
- If the proposal would be inappropriate development, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the proposal
What decided it
The substantial weight given to Green Belt harm is not clearly outweighed by the community benefits of providing additional burial space, and therefore very special circumstances do not exist to justify the inappropriate development.
Framework references: 11, 142, 143, 154, 155, 180, 225
Plan policies cited: Policy CSP1, Policy CSP18, Policy CSP21, Policy DP10, Policy DP13, Policy TLP40
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.