®Planning appeal decision
Land to the North of Slade Hill, Woolton Hill, Newbury, Hampshire, RG20 9TL
Planning appeal 3313185 at Land to the North of Slade Hill, Woolton Hill, Newbury, Hampshire, RG20 9TL (Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council) was allowed on 16 November 2023 by Inspector Conde L, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, including the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Application for permission in principle for the residential development of up to 2 no. dwellings (Use Class C3)
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Conde L
- Postcode
- RG20 9TL
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.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy EM1Policy EM10Policy SS1Policy SS6Policy NE1Policy HO1Policy HO2
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11Paragraph 14Paragraph 69
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.