Former Garden Centre, White Gate Nurseries, Stockwood Hill, Keynsham, BRISTOL, BS31 2AN

conversion of existing 5 buildings to form 6 dwellings, with associated parking and internal access road

Authority: Bath and North East Somerset Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Davies N

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework (the Framework)
Whether the site is suitable for the proposed development having regard to the spatial strategy of the development plan and whether the proposed works would constitute re-use or reconstruction of the existing nursery buildings/structures
The effect of the proposed development upon biodiversity
The effect of the proposed development upon highway safety and accessibility to sustainable transport

What decided it

The proposal was found to constitute rebuilding rather than conversion, placing it in conflict with the development plan's spatial strategy, compounded by unresolved biodiversity risk and harmful highway safety impacts.

The Inspector found the development plan up-to-date and saw no substantive reason to set aside the housing strategy even allowing for potential benefits such as reuse of a previously developed site, reduced vandalism risk, reduced pressure for countryside housing, good design or employment creation.

Framework references: 149, 174, 111

Plan policies cited: Policy DW1, Policy RE4, Policy RE6, Policy SCR6, Policy D8, Policy NE3, Policy NE5, Policy D5e, Policy ST1, Policy ST7

Judgments cited: Hibbitt High Court judgement

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.

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