North of Ashford House, Ashton Road, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 5BA

outline planning permission (with all matters reserved except for access) for up to 70 dwellings with public open space and associated

Authority: Lancaster City Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Savage K

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on the landscape character of the area, having regard to the site's designation as Urban Setting Landscape (USL)

What decided it

The substantial and permanent harm to the character and appearance of the valued USL landscape and its buffer function outweighed the benefits of housing delivery even in the context of the Council's poor housing land supply.

The substantial harm to the valued landscape significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits of housing delivery, affordable housing and other identified benefits, notwithstanding the tilted balance under paragraph 11(d).

Framework references: 11, 180

Plan policies cited: Policy EN5, Policy DM46, Policy DM29, Policy T3, Policy SC4, Policy DM3

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.