Planning appeal decision
Land Adjacent to 1 Coldharbour Farm Cottages, Coldharbour Road, Lower Dicker, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 3PU
Planning appeal 3327278 at Land Adjacent to 1 Coldharbour Farm Cottages, Coldharbour Road, Lower Dicker, Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 3PU (Wealden District Council) was allowed on 31 July 2024 by Inspector Smith J, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, the proposed land use and the amount of development, with reference to the Council's spatial strategy and accessibility to services and facilities.
‘permission in principle for residential development on land adjacent to 1 Coldharbour Farm Cottages for 3 or 4 houses’
- Authority
- Wealden District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Smith J
- Postcode
- BN27 3PU
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, the proposed land use and the amount of development, with reference to the Council's spatial strategy and accessibility to services and facilities
What decided it
The significant and protracted shortfall in housing land supply, combined with the site's location within a rural community with reasonable access to services by public transport, meant the presumption in favour of sustainable development applied and the benefits of delivering family homes outweighed the policy conflicts and locational disadvantages.
The moderate weight given to the delivery of a small number of new family homes and economic benefits, balanced against moderate weight to the disadvantages of the site's location and the need to travel, resulted in the adverse impacts not significantly and demonstrably outweighing the benefits, triggering the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy GD2Policy DC17Policy WCS6Policy EN1Policy WCS14Spatial Planning Objective SPO7Spatial Planning Objective SPO8
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11Paragraph 11d
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
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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.
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