Mill Green Farm, Back Lane, Aldridge, Walsall, WS9 0LR

change of use of stables to residential

Authority: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Plenty B

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the existing building would be suitable for conversion
Whether the proposed development would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, and its effect on the openness of the Green Belt, having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies
Whether the proposed development would affect the integrity of the Cannock Chase SAC
If the proposal would be inappropriate development, whether any harm is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to very special circumstances to justify it

What decided it

The proposal amounts to inappropriate development in the Green Belt that would cause moderate harm to openness and substantial harm to rural character and appearance, with the identified benefits of limited to moderate weight insufficient to clearly outweigh this harm and establish very special circumstances.

Framework references: 142, 143, 153, 154, 155

Plan policies cited: UDP saved policy 3.3, SAD Policy GB1, CS Policy EQ2, ENV2, ENV3, UDP saved policies GP2, ENV7, ENV32, DW3

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.

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.

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