Caversham Lake Watersports, Henley Road, Caversham, RG4 9RA

Authority: South Oxfordshire District Council
Appeal type: enforcement · Enforcement Notice
Procedure: Hearing
Development: leisure-sport · Change of use
Inspector: Walker A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area and biodiversity (Appeal A and Appeal B)
The effect of the development on highway safety (Appeal A only)

What decided it

The unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the area, combined with unresolved biodiversity harm and (for Appeal A) an unacceptable risk to highway safety, outweighed the benefits of the use and was not overcome by any of the grounds of appeal.

The wellbeing and economic benefits of the development did not outweigh, individually or cumulatively, the harm identified to character and appearance, biodiversity and (for Appeal A) highway safety, so the balance tipped against granting planning permission

Framework references: 180

Plan policies cited: Policy DES1, Policy DES2, Policy ENV1, Policy ENV2, Policy ENV3, Policy Trans4, Policy Trans5

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.