Site of the former St Peters School, Main Road, Gainford, DL2 3BQ

Authority: Durham County Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: other · Other minor developments
Inspector: Lancaster K

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the condition is reasonable and necessary to improve the appearance of the site and safeguard against vandalism and anti-social behaviour
If not, whether in its absence the less than substantial harm to the significance of the Gainford Conservation Area would be outweighed by the public benefits

What decided it

Condition 3 alone would secure the necessary visual improvements and deter vandalism, making condition 4 unreasonable and unnecessary.

Framework references: 193, 202

Plan policies cited: Policy 10, Policy 29, Policy 39, Policy 44

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.

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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.
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In the app this decision sits on the map beside every other appeal around it, with the full reasoning summary, the letter held on file, and the case law it applies.