Criss Cross, Wellbrook, Mayfield, East Sussex, TN20 6EA

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• whether the proposal would contribute to a sustainable pattern of development having regard to the Council's spatial strategy and accessibility to services and facilities
• the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area, having particular regard to the High Weald National Landscape
• the effect of the proposed development on the ancient woodland

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites (3.83 years), triggering the tilted balance under paragraph 11(d)(ii) of the Framework, meant the modest housing benefit and absence of significant landscape or ecological harm outweighed the conflict with the development plan's spatial strategy policies.

The significant shortfall in housing land supply (3.83 years) and the benefits of delivering 5 net additional dwellings and a commuted sum for affordable housing, together with temporary economic benefits and environmental enhancements, outweighed the significant harm of conflicting with the development plan's spatial strategy policies.