B480, Chalgrove, OX49 5BA

the erection of up to 160 dwellings including affordable housing, public open space, landscaping, a sustainable drainage system (SuDS) and vehicular access

Authority: South Oxfordshire District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Baird G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the lpa can demonstrate a 5-year supply of deliverable housing sites
The effect on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The Very Significant weight attached to conflict with the development plan (driven by the recency of the Local Plan/Neighbourhood Plan and public confidence in plan-led decision-making), combined with landscape/visual and agricultural land harm, significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits even under the tilted balance.

The adverse impacts of allowing the development (conflict with the development plan, landscape and visual impact, and loss of agricultural land) significantly and demonstrably outweighed the economic, social and environmental benefits of the proposal when assessed against the Framework as a whole.

Framework references: 2, 11, 15, 29, 60, 71, 74, 174

Plan policies cited: STRAT1, STRAT2, H1, H4, ENV1, ENV2, ENV4, ENV9, DES7, STRAT7, STRAT13, NP Policy C1

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.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.