®Planning appeal decision
Land Known As Lakeview, Baulking Lane, Baulking, Oxfordshire, SN7 8NR
Planning appeal 3314399 at Land Known As Lakeview, Baulking Lane, Baulking, Oxfordshire, SN7 8NR (Vale of White Horse District Council) was allowed on 8 January 2025 by Inspector Freer P, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the stationing of caravans for residential use is appropriate in this location.
for the change of use of land to residential, for one Gypsy Traveller family. The development to comprise one static caravan, one touring caravan, parking for two vehicles, associated hardstanding and infrastructure (retrospective). Summary
- Authority
- Vale of White Horse District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- caravan-gypsy · Major traveller and caravan pitches
- Inspector
- Freer P
- Postcode
- SN7 8NR
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the stationing of caravans for residential use is appropriate in this location
- the effect of the development, if any, on the character and appearance of the area
- whether the development has resulted in a net loss of biodiversity
- whether the development effects the future extraction of the nearby reserves of minerals, specifically Fullers Earth
What decided it
The personal circumstances of the appellant's family, particularly the children's ongoing education and lack of any suitable alternative site, tipped the balance in favour of a temporary and personal permission rather than dismissal, despite the identified landscape, biodiversity and minerals-safeguarding harms.
the harm to the character and appearance of the area, the setting of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, potential biodiversity loss and conflict with the Minerals Safeguarding Area outweighed the benefits for a permanent permission, but the absence of a five-year supply of deliverable sites, lack of alternative sites, and the appellant family's personal circumstances tipped the balance in favour of a temporary, personal permission
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy CP1Policy CP3Policy CP4Policy CP25Policy CP27Policy DP6Policy DP12Policy H2BPolicy H3Policy CP37Policy D1Policy CP46Policy M8
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 8Paragraph 11Paragraph 84Paragraph 187Paragraph 189
- Judgments
- Smith v SSLUHC & Others [2022] EWCA Civ 1391; Angela Smith v Doncaster MBC [2007] EWHC 1034 (Admin)
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
More decisions in Vale of White Horse
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025
- Notice upheld19 May 202633462205 Picklers Hill, Abingdon, OX14 2BA
- Notice upheld20 February 20263355881Land at East Cottage , Stanford Road, Buckland, Oxfordshire, SN7 8QL
- Notice varied and upheld19 November 20253325399Blewbury Riding and Training Centre, Bessels Way, Blewbury, Oxfordshire, OX11 9NH
- Dismissed30 September 20253346774Land at Lincombe Lane, Boars Hill, Oxfordshire, OX1 5DZ
- Notice varied and upheld8 January 20253273724Maleficent Meadows, Baulking Lane, Baulking, SN7 8NR
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.