®Planning appeal decision
Land to the north of Slade Hill, Woolton Hill, Newbury, Hampshire, RG20 9TL
Application for permission in principle for the residential development of up to 2 no. dwellings (Use Class C3)
- Authority
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Conde L
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, including the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
- Whether the proposal would accord with the spatial strategy of the development plan
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, combined with the site's sustainable location relative to existing settlement and services and the absence of harm to character or the AONB, engaged the presumption in favour of sustainable development under NPPF paragraph 11(d), which outweighed the conflict with spatial strategy policies.
The limited weight given to the conflict with spatial strategy policies (which aim to protect rural character) was outweighed by the small positive contribution to housing supply, socio-economic benefits, the site's sustainable location relative to local services, and the presumption in favour of sustainable development arising from the Council's lack of five-year housing land supply.
Framework references: 11, 14, 69
Plan policies cited: Policy EM1, Policy EM10, Policy SS1, Policy SS6, Policy NE1, Policy HO1, Policy HO2
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.