Land West of Broadacre, School Lane, Bentley, Hampshire, GU10 5JP

up to 33 residential dwellings, including fifteen affordable and nine self-build housing units, together with the associated vehicular and pedestrian access, landscaping, and public open space

Authority: East Hampshire District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Webb B

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the site is a suitable location for the proposed development having regard to: (a) access to services/facilities by future occupants of the development; and (b) its effect on the character and appearance of the area
the effect of the development on the living conditions of occupants of 16 and 18 Eggars Field in relation to privacy

What decided it

The unsuitability of the site's location, combining unjustified environmental harm from additional travel and significant harm to the character and appearance of the village, outweighed the modest housing benefits.

The significant weight attached to the modest housing, affordable and self-build benefits was decisively outweighed by the substantial weight given to the conflicts with the development plan concerning sustainable location and character/appearance harm, such that adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits.

Plan policies cited: Policy CP2, Policy CP31, Policy CP19, Policy CP10, Policy CP13, Policy CP29, Policy CP20, Policy CP27

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.