®Planning appeal decision
Land west of Barcombe Mills Road, Barcombe Cross, East Sussex
Outline application with all matters reserved except access for the erection of up to 70 dwellings (including 40% affordable dwellings), public open space, landscaping, and sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and vehicular access point. All matters reserved except for access
- Authority
- Lewes District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Parsons J
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The main issues are whether the site is an acceptable location for housing, having regard to the effect of the proposal on (a) the character and appearance of the area (b) the setting of a Grade II listed building, known as Mongers Farmhouse, a non designated heritage asset (NDHA) known as The Barn, and the Barcombe Cross Conservation Area, and (c) the best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land.
What decided it
The severe shortfall in the District's five-year housing land supply meant the substantial housing and affordable housing benefits, together with other public benefits, outweighed the identified heritage, character and agricultural land harms under the tilted balance.
The substantial benefits of boosting housing supply and delivering affordable housing, together with significant economic, social and environmental benefits, outweighed the less than substantial harm to designated heritage assets, moderate harm to the NDHA, small localised character harm, and harm from loss of BMV agricultural land, such that the adverse effects did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.
Framework references: 11, 56, 60, 68, 174, 202
Plan policies cited: Spatial Policy 1, Spatial Policy 2, Policy DM1, Core Policy 10, Core Policy 11, Policy DM25, Policy DM27, Policy DM33, Policy DM19, Core Policy 1, Policy DM26, Core Policy 8, Policy DM14, Policy DM15, Policy DM16, Core Policy 7, Core Policy 13
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.