®Planning appeal decision
Watton Mill, Mill Lane, Watton at Stone, Hertfordshire, SG14 3TT
additional floor to existing office building
- Authority
- East Hertfordshire District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- employment-industrial · Minor offices/R&D/light industry
- Inspector
- Szymanski D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether or not the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt
- the effect of the proposal upon the openness of the Green Belt
- the effect of the proposal upon the character and appearance of the host building and the area including the setting of the Watton-at-Stone Conservation Area
- the effect of the proposal upon highway safety
- whether or not the proposal would be consistent with policies in respect of flood risk
- if the proposal would be inappropriate development, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations and whether this would amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal
What decided it
The proposal constitutes inappropriate development causing substantial harm to the Green Belt by reason of disproportionate additions and harm to visual openness, and the identified benefits do not clearly outweigh this harm to justify very special circumstances.
Framework references: 142, 152, 153, 154, 155, 165, 173
Plan policies cited: Policy GBR1, Policy DES4, Policy HA1, Policy HA4, Policy TRA2, Policy TRA3, Policy WAT1, Policy WAS5, Policy WAS6, Policy WAS21
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.