®Planning appeal decision
Land At Rear Of 17 - 49 Church Lane, Sarratt, WD3 6HN
outline application for the erection of up to 83 new dwellings, a new doctors’ surgery with vehicular access on to Sarratt Road (appearance, layout, landscaping and scale as reserved matters)
- Authority
- Three Rivers District Council
- Appeal type
- other · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Unknown
- Inspector
- Nunn M
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect of the proposals on the Green Belt, including openness
- the effect of the proposals on the character and appearance of the area, particularly the landscape
- the locational sustainability of the sites
- the effect of the proposals on highway safety
- whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify development within the Green Belt
What decided it
The severe and unmet five-year housing land supply shortfall, combined with the substantial housing, affordable housing, self-build and (for Appeal A) healthcare benefits, was found to amount to very special circumstances clearly outweighing the identified Green Belt and other harms.
the substantial benefits of market, affordable and custom/self-build housing, the doctors' surgery, design quality, open space and economic benefits clearly outweighed the definitional Green Belt harm, loss of openness, landscape harm and harm from relatively poor locational sustainability, such that very special circumstances existed to justify both developments individually and in combination
Framework references: 11, 48, 56, 57, 60, 63, 109, 115, 131, 139, 143, 152, 153, 180, 182
Plan policies cited: Policy PSP4, Policy CP1, Policy CP2, Policy CP3, Policy CP4, Policy CP10, Policy CP11, Policy CP12, Policy DM1, Policy DM2, Policy DM6, Policy DM7, Policy DM12
Judgments cited: R(Holborn Studios) v London Borough of Hackney [2017] EWHC 2923; Bernhard Wheatcroft Ltd v SSE [JPL 1982 P37]
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.