®Planning appeal decision
Land At Hooton Road, Hooton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 7NL
Planning appeal 3325109 at Land At Hooton Road, Hooton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 7NL (Cheshire West and Chester) was dismissed on 29 July 2024 by Inspector Gibbons L, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The extent to which there would be harm to Green Belt (including openness and purposes).
Construction of a crematorium with ceremony hall, memorial areas, garden of remembrance and associated parking and infrastructure
- Authority
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- community-institutional · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Gibbons L
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The extent to which there would be harm to Green Belt (including openness and purposes)
- Character and appearance (including landscape and visual impact)
- Whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the proposal
- For Appeal B (School Road): The effect on highway safety and pedestrian access
- For Appeal A (Hooton Road): The effect on flooding and drainage
What decided it
The identified need for a crematorium and other benefits did not clearly outweigh the substantial Green Belt harm (inappropriateness and loss of openness) plus other harms, so very special circumstances were not established for either appeal.
The substantial harm to the Green Belt (inappropriateness, loss of openness and encroachment), together with additional harms specific to each site, was not clearly outweighed by the demonstrated need for a crematorium and moderate/limited weight benefits (employment, biodiversity, lack of alternatives), so very special circumstances did not exist for either Appeal A or Appeal B.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- STRAT9ENV2STRAT10T5ENV1ENV4DM44STRAT1SOC5
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 154Paragraph 142Paragraph 143Paragraph 138Paragraph 115Paragraph 114Paragraph 168Paragraph 85
- Judgments
- Timmins judgement
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.