®Planning appeal decision
Land north and east of Sniperley Farm, Durham City, County Durham
Demolition of existing buildings adjacent to B6532 and outline planning permission (all matters reserved except for access) for a maximum of 1,550 residential dwellings (Use Class C3), a local centre (Use Classes E and F2), public house (Use Class Sui Generis) and primary school (Use Class F1), compensatory improvements to the Green Belt, associated infrastructure and landscaping . Summary of Recommendation: That the appeal be allowed
- Authority
- Durham County Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Hockenhull H
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Masterplanning, provision and timing on infrastructure (Appeals A, B and D)
- Sustainable transport (Appeals A, B and D)
- Education (Appeals A, B and D)
- District heating (Appeals A, B and D)
- Affordable housing (Appeal D)
- Viability and other housing issues
- Heritage (Appeals B, C and D)
- Ecology
- Poor design, overdevelopment and car parking (Appeal D)
- Highway safety
- Other issues (Appeals A, B and D)
What decided it
The proposals were found to accord with the development plan as a whole (particularly CDP Policy 5 governing the Sniperley Park allocation) with no material considerations indicating a decision otherwise, and the significant benefits of housing and affordable housing delivery decisively outweighed the limited landscape harm identified.
For each of Appeals A, B and D, significant weight benefits (housing, affordable housing, economic benefits) and moderate weight benefits (environmental benefits, off-site highway improvements) and limited weight benefits (space/accessibility standards, school provision, sustainable travel) outweighed the limited weight harm from a low level of landscape harm; for Appeal C, the significant weight heritage benefit and limited weight benefits outweighed no identified harms.
Framework references: 11, 56, 57, 147
Plan policies cited: Policy 4, Policy 5, Policy 15, Policy 19, Policy 21, Policy 22, Policy 24, Policy 25, Policy 26, Policy 27, Policy 29, Policy 35, Policy 36, Policy 39, Policy 40, Policy 41, Policy 44, Policy 45, Witton Gilbert Neighbourhood Plan Policy 2, Witton Gilbert Neighbourhood Plan Policy 3, Witton Gilbert Neighbourhood Plan Policy 6, Witton Gilbert Neighbourhood Plan Policy 7, Witton Gilbert Neighbourhood Plan Policy 11
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.