®Planning appeal decision
Land north of Cooden and east of Horsham Road , Capel , Dorking , Surrey, RH5 5HD
for 46 dwellings with all matters reserved except access
- Authority
- Mole Valley District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- McDonald K
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the site is suitable for the proposed development, having regard to the Council's spatial strategy
- The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
- The effect of the proposal on biodiversity, with regard to protected species
What decided it
The adverse effects of granting planning permission, comprising conflict with the spatial strategy, substantial harm to character and appearance, and unresolved harm to protected species, significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits of housing delivery when assessed against the Framework taken as a whole.
The substantial weight of housing delivery benefits and policy-compliant affordable housing was outweighed by the substantial weight of harm to character and appearance, the substantial weight of precautionary harm to protected species, and the considerable weight of the spatial strategy in the recently adopted, plan-led development plan with a deliverable five-year housing supply.
Framework references: 11
Plan policies cited: Policy H1, Policy EN2, Policy EN3, Policy H4, Policy EN4, Policy EN8, Policy EN9
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.