Layton Grange, Layton Road, Rawdon, Leeds, LS18 5EU

a 24 panel ground-mounted solar system

Authority: Leeds City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Other minor developments
Inspector: Caines A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal is inappropriate development in the Green Belt
The effect of the development on the openness of the Green Belt
If the proposal is inappropriate development, whether harm by reason of inappropriateness and any other harm is clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the proposal

What decided it

The renewable energy benefits of the proposal, despite being given significant weight, do not clearly outweigh the harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness and loss of openness, and therefore very special circumstances do not exist to justify the development.

Framework references: 153, 154, 155, 156, 163, 164

Plan policies cited: Policy N33, Policy GP5, Policy P10

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.