Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Allowed18 July 20243336607

Land West of Reigate Road, Hookwood, Horley, Surrey, RH6 0AY

Planning appeal 3336607 at Land West of Reigate Road, Hookwood, Horley, Surrey, RH6 0AY (Mole Valley District Council) was allowed on 18 July 2024 by Inspector Wright Y, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The effect of the proposed development on the openness of the Green Belt and on the purposes of including land within it.

outline application with all matters reserved except means of access for residential development of up to 446 dwellings (Use Class C3), community building(s) up to 1,500sqm (Use Class E and/or F), gypsy and traveller pitches up to 0.2ha, public open space, landscaping, surface water drainage and all associated infrastructure

Authority
Mole Valley District Council
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Inquiry
Development
residential · Major dwellings
Inspector
Wright Y

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • The effect of the proposed development on the openness of the Green Belt and on the purposes of including land within it
  • The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area
  • The effect of the proposal on nearby listed buildings
  • Whether the 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 development

What decided it

The cumulative weight of public benefits, particularly housing delivery (including affordable housing), the eLP site allocation, and other identified benefits, clearly outweighed the Green Belt and other harms, establishing very special circumstances.

The substantial harm from inappropriateness together with the other identified harms (openness, Green Belt purposes, character and appearance, and heritage setting) were clearly outweighed by the public benefits (housing including affordable housing, self-build/custom-build provision, gypsy and traveller pitches, community building, open space/biodiversity net gain, economic benefits and sustainable location, plus the eLP allocation), amounting to very special circumstances justifying the development.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
CS Policy CS1CS Policy CS2CS Policy CS4CS Policy CS14LP Policy ENV22LP Policy ENV23LP Policy ENV24eLP Policy DS41
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 11Paragraph 48Paragraph 57Paragraph 77Paragraph 115Paragraph 152Paragraph 153Paragraph 208

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

64 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision
An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter
Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.
Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app
Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.
Start your free trial

More decisions in Mole Valley District Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2024

  1. Dismissed20 October 20266013764
    Priory Lodge, River Lane, Leatherhead, KT22 0AU
  2. Dismissed19 October 20266011465
    Land to the South-East of Yarm Way, Leatherhead, KT22 8RQ
  3. Dismissed16 October 20266010203
    High Bank,, Mill Hill Lane, Betchworth, RH3 7LS
  4. Dismissed18 September 20266011498
    Woodstock House, Mole Street, Ockley, RH5 5PB
  5. Dismissed16 September 20266008528
    Henhurst Lodge, Beare Green Road, Beare Green, RH5 4PX

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.