®Planning appeal decision
Willow Farm, Chobham Road, Ottershaw , Surrey , KT16 0QE
Planning appeal 3338481 at Willow Farm, Chobham Road, Ottershaw , Surrey , KT16 0QE (Runnymede Borough Council) was allowed on 31 July 2024 by Inspector Brooker M, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: 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.
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
- Postcode
- KT16 0QE
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.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy EE19Policy EE1Policy EE9Policy EE11Policy SL22
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 150
- Judgments
- Turner V SSCLG & East Dorset Council [2016] EWCA Civ 466
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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With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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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.