Land off Norwich Road, Little Stonham, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5JJ

‘Erection of six new dwellings and creation of new internal access road’

Authority: Mid Suffolk District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Chamberlain G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the appeal site is an appropriate location for the proposed development with reference to the spatial strategy in the development plan
The effect of the proposed development on highway safety and the character and appearance of the area, including trees
The effect of the proposal on the significance of The Old Rectory, which is a Grade II listed building, and the Baptist Church

What decided it

The proposal breaches the spatial strategy by proposing six dwellings where Policy LP01 permits only one or two homes as windfall infill outside settlement boundaries, and this fundamental conflict with the development plan is not outweighed by the modest public benefits.

The modest public benefits of housing delivery, economic boost, biodiversity net gain and carbon savings were outweighed by the conflict with the spatial strategy, significant harm to character and appearance, highway safety concerns, and less-than-substantial harm to the setting of a listed building.

Framework references: 80, 84, 11, 180

Plan policies cited: Policy SP03, Policy LP01, Policy LP24, Policy LP03, Policy LP19, Policy LP29

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.