Sunnyside, Hackhurst Lane, Lower Dicker, HAILSHAM, East Sussex, BN27 4BP

four bedroom detached house with separate guest annexe, detached garage with playroom at first floor level and tractor store

Authority: Wealden District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Hobbs J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the site is a suitable location for a residential development having regards to local and national planning policy for the provision of housing
the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area, including the effect on trees subject to a tree protection order (TPO)

What decided it

The proposal conflicts with the development plan as a whole and the adverse impacts of harm to character and appearance and unsustainable location significantly and demonstrably outweigh the limited benefits of a single dwelling, even with the tilted balance engaged.

The significant weight given to conflicts with policies protecting countryside character and promoting sustainable location of housing outweighed the limited benefits of housing delivery, economic benefits and environmental features, such that the presumption in favour of sustainable development did not apply.

Framework references: 11, 119, 128

Plan policies cited: DC17, EN1, EN8, EN12, EN13, EN27, WCS13, SPO3, SPO7, SPO8, SPO13

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.