Land Known as Chiltern Meadows (Rear of Kingswood Nursery), Dunstable Road, Tilsworth, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 9PU

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• the effect on Chiltern Beechwood Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
• whether the development amounts to inappropriate development within the Green Belt
• if so, the effect of the development on the openness and purposes of the Green Belt
• the effect on the character and appearance of the area
• the carrying out of intentional unauthorised development
• if the development does amount to inappropriate development within the Green Belt, whether the harm by way of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other material considerations such that very special circumstances exist to justify a grant of planning permission
• whether the development amounts to inappropriate development within the Green Belt (Appeals A and B)
• the effect on the character and appearance of the area (Appeals A and B)

What decided it

the combination of the site's 'grey belt' status, the unmet need for Gypsy and Traveller pitches and the absence of a five-year supply of deliverable pitches outweighed the limited harms identified, so that the paragraph 11(d) tilted balance favoured granting permission.

significant weight to the provision of six pitches addressing unmet need, substantial weight to personal circumstances, limited weight to intentional unauthorised development, and neutral weight to the mitigated landscape harm, against which the adverse impacts of granting permission did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, so permission was granted.