®Planning appeal decision
Willow Farm, Chobham Road, Ottershaw , Surrey , KT16 0QE
the change of use of the land to create 4 pitches for an extended Traveller family without complying with conditions attached to planning permission Ref RU.22/0109, dated 3 August 2023
- Authority
- Runnymede Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- caravan-gypsy · Minor traveller and caravan pitches
- Inspector
- Brooker M
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the disputed conditions are necessary and reasonable and whether they meet the other tests for conditions set out in the National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, having regard to the effects of the development on openness of the Green Belt and the Council's provision for Gypsy and Traveller sites, as well as issues relating to policy harm, the Human Rights Act and the Equalities Act
What decided it
The combination of the significant unmet need and lack of alternative Traveller sites together with the substantial weight given to the best interests of the resident children outweighed the Green Belt harm, establishing very special circumstances.
The substantial weight given to the best interests of the children, together with the significant weight attached to the lack of alternative sites and the Council's persistent policy failure to provide sites, outweighed the substantial weight given to harm by inappropriateness and the moderate harm to openness of the Green Belt, establishing very special circumstances in favour of the appeal.
Framework references: 150
Plan policies cited: Policy EE19, Policy EE1, Policy EE9, Policy EE11, Policy SL22
Judgments cited: Turner V SSCLG & East Dorset Council [2016] EWCA Civ 466
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.