®Planning appeal decision
Maisie Cottage Bottrells Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, HP8 4EQ
conversion and extension of existing stable building to create a one bedroom dwelling served by the existing access
- Authority
- Buckinghamshire Council - Chiltern Area *
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Townend K
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and any relevant development plan policies, including considering the effect of the development on the openness of the Green Belt and the purposes of including land within it
- the effect of the development on the Chilterns National Landscape
- whether the proposed development would provide appropriate living conditions for the occupiers of the unit, with particular regard to internal space
- whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal
What decided it
The proposal would fail to preserve the openness of the Green Belt through the creation of formal garden, parking and hardstanding areas with fencing, and would conflict with policies protecting the Chilterns National Landscape, and these harms are not clearly outweighed by the limited social and economic benefits of a single dwelling in a car-dependent location.
The substantial harm to the openness of the Green Belt and harm to the Chilterns National Landscape were not clearly outweighed by the limited social and economic benefits of additional housing supply and the scheme's limited ecological benefits, such that very special circumstances do not exist to justify the inappropriate development.
Framework references: 11, 135, 143, 155, 182
Plan policies cited: Policy GB2, Policy GB11, Policy LSQ1, Policy CS22, Policy GC3
Judgments cited: Holborn Studios Ltd v The Council of the London Borough of Hackney [2017] EWHC 2823 (Admin)
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.