Maisie Cottage Bottrells Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, HP8 4EQ

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.