Reeve Cottage, Vicarage Lane, Westhead, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L40 6HG

rebuild barn conversion style dwelling

Authority: West Lancashire District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Chukwujekwu I

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of the Framework and development plan policy
The effect of the proposed development on openness of the Green Belt
The effect of the proposed development upon the living conditions of occupiers of Reeve Cottage with particular regard to outlook, privacy and outdoor amenity space
If the development is inappropriate, is the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, clearly outweighed by other considerations. If so, does this amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the development

What decided it

The substantial weight attached to the harm to Green Belt openness and the material harm to neighbouring living conditions were not clearly outweighed by the limited socioeconomic and environmental benefits, meaning very special circumstances did not exist to justify the inappropriate development.

Framework references: 142, 154, 152

Plan policies cited: Policy GB3, Policy GN3

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.