NEWFIELD HOUSE, MIDDLETON ROAD, MIDDLETON, LANCASHIRE, LA3 3PP

change of use from residential flat and storage into residential care home for the elderly

Authority: Lancaster City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: community-institutional · Change of use
Inspector: Williamson J
Postcode: LA3 3PP

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the location would be suitable having regard to relevant local and national policies
whether the proposal would provide satisfactory living conditions for future occupiers

What decided it

The proposal would not provide satisfactory living conditions for future occupiers due to unacceptable noise disturbance in outdoor amenity areas from adjacent manufacturing and traffic, and the site is unsuitable as it fails to accord with employment land protection policies without demonstrated exceptional circumstances.

Plan policies cited: Policy SP2, Policy EC1, Policy EC5, Policy DM14, Policy DM8

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.

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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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