Land off Lince Lane, Kirtlington, Oxon, OX5 3HE

erection of 15 detached and semi-detached single and two-storey dwellings (including affordable housing) together with access, parking, amenity space and landscaping

Authority: Cherwell District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Marigold O

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The main issue is the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area.

What decided it

The significant harm to the character and appearance of the area, particularly to important views identified by the Heritage and Character Assessment and NP Policy PD4, outweighed the benefits of the proposal.

The benefits of housing delivery, affordable housing and other social, economic and ecological benefits (moderate to limited positive weight) were outweighed by the substantial harm to character and appearance, such that the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits under the tilted balance, and the proposal conflicted with the development plan as a whole under section 38(6).

Framework references: 11, 131, 180, 226

Plan policies cited: Policy PD5, Policy PD4, Policy PD1, Policy ESD13, Policy ESD15, Policy C28, Policy C8, Policy C30

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.