Hazel Stub Depot, Burton End, HAVERHILL, Suffolk, CB9 9AF

change of use and conversion of existing light industrial depot building, Class B1 (now Class E), to create nine apartments, Class C3, with external car and bicycle parking, refuse area and landscaping. Accommodation to consist of eight 2 bedroom 4 person apartment, and one 3 bedroom 6 person duplex apartment

Authority: West Suffolk
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Gee R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether an appropriate location for development having regard to the development plan policies, its countryside location and accessibility
the effect of the proposal on highway and pedestrian safety
the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
the effect of the proposal on protected species

What decided it

The proposal fails to accord with development plan policies governing countryside development, particularly Policy DM28, as the building is not redundant or disused and the location is unsustainable due to lack of local services and reliance on private motor vehicles.

Framework references: 84

Plan policies cited: Policy DM5, Policy DM26, Policy DM27, Policy DM28, Policy DM29, Policy DM33, Policy DM2, Policy CS3, Policy DM10, Policy DM11, Policy DM12, Policy CS2

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.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.