3 Envilles Cottages, Abbess Road, Little Laver, Ongar, ESSEX, CM5 0JH

a double storey side extension

Authority: Epping Forest District Council
Appeal type: householder · Householder (HAS)
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Courtney T

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of the National Planning Policy Framework and development plan policy
The effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
The effect on the character and appearance of the surrounding area
The effect on the living conditions of the neighbouring occupiers at 2 Envilles Cottages with regards to outlook and a loss of light
If the development would be inappropriate, whether the harm to the Green Belt by way of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify it

What decided it

The disproportionate scale of the extension (60% cumulative volume increase) combined with harm to Green Belt openness, character and appearance, and neighbouring living conditions, with no very special circumstances to justify the development.

Framework references: 149

Plan policies cited: Policy DM4, Policy DM9

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.