®Planning appeal decision
Rear of Forge House, Table Oak Lane, Meer End, SOLIHULL, West Midlands, CV8 1PZ
(i) the material change of use of the land to a use for purposes ancillary to the domestic residential use of Forge House, and (ii) unauthorised operation development comprising: the erection of a single-storey detached building in the approximate position shown in orange on the attached plan; the formation of a hard surfaced parking area in the approximate position shown in yellow on the attached plan; and the construction of raised planting beds on the land
- Authority
- Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Jones D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the development is inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies, including an assessment of its effects on the openness of the Green Belt
- If the development is inappropriate development, 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 required to justify the development
What decided it
The substantial Green Belt harm from inappropriateness and loss of openness was not clearly outweighed by the limited-weight other considerations, so very special circumstances did not exist.
The substantial weight given to Green Belt harm (inappropriateness and loss of openness) was not clearly outweighed by the limited weight attached to the appellants' other considerations (parking/storage need, landscaping scheme, reduced building height), so the balance tipped against the development.
Framework references: 142, 143, 152, 153, 154, 155
Plan policies cited: Policy P17
Judgments cited: Sinclair-Lockhart's Trustees v Central Land Board [1950] 1 P&CR 195; Methuan-Campbell v Walters [1979] 1 QB 525; Burford v SSCLG and Test Valley BC [2017] EWHC 1493 (Admin); Hampshire CC & the Open Spaces Society & Others v SSEFRA & Blackbushe Airport Ltd [2020] EWHC 959 (Admin), [2021] EWCA 398, [2020] JPL 1359
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.