Land North of Bailrigg Lane, Lancaster, LA1 4XP

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the development constitutes habitats development under Article 5B of the Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 (as amended)
• Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, the proposed land use and the amount of development, particularly in respect of drainage and flood risk

What decided it

The absence of a binding mechanism to secure mitigation of recreational disturbance impacts on the designated habitat sites meant the proposal constituted habitats development for which permission in principle cannot be granted under Article 5B of the Order.

The benefits of housing supply (limited weight given the small scale of 5 dwellings) were outweighed by the procedural bar to granting permission in principle for habitats development and the clear reasons for refusal relating to flood risk and drainage, which engaged paragraph 11(d)(i) of the Framework and displaced the presumption in favour of sustainable development despite the Council's lack of five-year housing land supply.