®Planning appeal decision
Battle Golf Clubhouse, Netherfield Hill, Netherfield, Battle, East Sussex, TN33 0LH
change of use of redundant golf clubhouse, together with minor extensions, to form a single residential dwelling, including parking and as sociated landscape works (to include biodiversity improvements and woodland restoration)
- Authority
- Rother District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Carpenter C
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal would result in the unacceptable loss of an employment use
- The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the existing building and the landscape and scenic beauty of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (HW AONB)
- Whether the proposal would be in a suitable location in respect to adjacent settlements, local services and facilities
What decided it
The great weight attributed to the landscape and biodiversity improvements to the High Weald AONB, combined with the moderate weight of reduced travel generation compared to the former golf club use, outweighed the moderate harm from loss of employment use when assessed against the Framework as a whole under the tilted balance, given the Council's significant housing land supply shortfall.
The moderate harm from unacceptable loss of employment use was outweighed by the collective benefits of the proposal: great weight to landscape and biodiversity enhancements to the AONB, moderate weight to overall reduction in travel compared to the former golf club, and limited weight to social and economic benefits, assessed under Framework paragraph 11(d)(ii) tilted balance.
Framework references: 176, 80, 105, 8, 11
Plan policies cited: Policy DEC3, Policy DCO1, Policy OSS4, Policy EN1, Policy EN3, Policy DEN1, Policy DEN2, Policy OSS2, Policy OSS3, Policy DIM2, Policy RA3, Policy TR3, Policy SRM2, Policy DRM1, Policy T3, Policy DHG4
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.