Planning appeal decision
'The Bunker', Land South of Lyndhurst Rd A35, Nr Ashurst Railway Station , Ashurst, SO40 7AA
Planning appeal 3338105 at 'The Bunker', Land South of Lyndhurst Rd A35, Nr Ashurst Railway Station , Ashurst, SO40 7AA (New Forest) was dismissed on 28 January 2025 by Inspector Buchanan R, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the site is suitable in location and appropriate for a market dwelling by conversion and re-use of The Bunker.
change of use and conversion of existing building to a dwelling
- Authority
- New Forest
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Buchanan R
- Postcode
- SO40 7AA
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the site is suitable in location and appropriate for a market dwelling by conversion and re-use of The Bunker
- the effect of the proposal on the significance of The Bunker non-designated heritage asset
- the effect of the proposal on bats and reptiles, which are protected species
- whether the proposal would provide sufficient internal living space and satisfactory private external amenity space
What decided it
The proposal conflicts with the local plan spatial strategy for National Parks by introducing market housing in the countryside outside settlement boundaries, and would cause considerable harm to the significance of The Bunker as a non-designated heritage asset, with public benefits insufficient to outweigh this harm.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy SP4Policy SP19Policy DP49Policy SP16Policy DP2Policy SP6
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11Paragraph 82Paragraph 83Paragraph 84Paragraph 202Paragraph 216
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 appliedThe decision letter
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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.
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