®Planning appeal decision
Hares Farm, Pickaxe Lane, South Warnborough, HOOK, RG29 1SD
‘Without planning permission, the material change of use of the land from an agricultural use to a mixed use comprising agricultural use, residential use, use of the land to run a catering business, the storage of a food trailer and use of the land for camping, with the uses facilitated by the stationing of a twin unit caravan, the formation of an access and hard surfaced area for parking, external lighting, engineering operations (altering land levels) to facilitate the installation of the twin unit caravan, yurts, a timber veranda, raised decking, outdoor kitchen/dining area, pizza oven, planters, outside toilet, shipping containers, timber storage shed, pig housing and shelters, telegraph pole, foul water drainage system including septic tank, electricity and water supply.’
- Authority
- Hart District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- agricultural · Change of use
- Inspector
- Higenbottam H
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the mixed use is appropriate in this countryside location and the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area
- whether or not there is an essential need for a temporary mobile home for residential use to accommodate a rural worker
- the effect of the development on highway safety, particularly in relation to increased traffic generation
What decided it
The lack of a clearly demonstrated functional need for a rural worker's dwelling, combined with the absence of any justification for siting the catering/storage uses in this countryside location, meant the mixed use conflicted with the development plan as a whole.
The harm to rural character from the unjustified countryside siting of the mixed use and the unproven need for a rural worker's dwelling outweighed the absence of demonstrated highway harm, resulting in overall conflict with the development plan and dismissal of the ground (a) appeal.
Plan policies cited: LP Policy NBE1, LP Policy NBE2, SLP Policy GEN1
Judgments cited: Murfitt v Secretary of State for the Environment (1980) 40 P and CR 254; Bowring v SSCLG [2013] EWHC 1115(Admin)
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.