Land Adjacent To Hormead Cottage, Great Hormead, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, SG9 0NR

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• whether the development would preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the Hormead Conservation Area, with particular reference to protected woodland, and whether the development would have an adverse effect on the setting of the Grade II listed The Cottage

What decided it

The likely direct and future indirect loss and degradation of protected tree cover within the conservation area, which would diminish its significance and conflict with heritage conservation requirements, could not be outweighed by the modest benefit of one additional dwelling.

the modest public benefit of providing one family dwelling was insufficient to outweigh the less than substantial harm to the significance of the Hormead Conservation Area arising from the likely loss of tree cover and reduction of key characteristics, particularly protected woodland