Land At, Russels Road, Greenstead Green , Essex, CO9 1SR

Authority: Braintree District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Catcheside E

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the site represents a suitable location for housing, having regard to the spatial strategy set out in the development plan and accessibility to services and facilities
the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, combined with the site's reasonable public transport connection and the absence of harm to character and appearance, meant the tilted balance under NPPF paragraph 11(d)(ii) favoured allowing the appeal despite conflict with the development plan's spatial strategy.

The conflict with the spatial strategy was given limited weight in light of the housing land supply shortfall, the reasonable public transport connection, and the low environmental impact of short car journeys; the benefits of housing delivery outweighed the adverse impacts when assessed against the Framework as a whole.

Framework references: 11, 56

Plan policies cited: SP3, LPP1, LPP16, SP7, SP1, LPP47, LPP52

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.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.