®Planning appeal decision
Church Farm West, Bramshill Road, Hook, RG27 0PS
without planning permission, the material change of use of the Land from agriculture to a mixed use for agriculture, the stationing of caravans for residential occupation and the erection of six utility sheds used in association with the unauthorised residential use
- Authority
- Hart District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- caravan-gypsy · Change of use
- Inspector
- Steen A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the residential use of the caravans is in a suitable location in terms of access to services and facilities, or whether there is an essential need for workers to be accommodated at the farm
- The effect of the caravans and utility sheds on the intrinsic character and beauty of the landscape
- The effect of the development on the Bramshill Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA)
- Whether there are other material considerations (such as need for seasonal accommodation for agricultural workers) that would outweigh any harm
What decided it
The fallback position under Article 3 and Class A, Part 5, Schedule 2 of the GPDO for seasonal agricultural worker caravan use carried great weight and was sufficient to outweigh the development plan conflict.
the harm to the intrinsic character and beauty of the landscape and conflict with Policies SS1, NBE1 and SD1 were outweighed by the fallback position under the GPDO, which carried great weight, once potential SPA effects were mitigated by condition and part of the unilateral undertaking
Plan policies cited: Policy SS1, Policy NBE1, Policy ED1, Policy SD1, Policy NRM6, Policy NBE3, Policy NBE4
Judgments cited: People Over Wind, Peter Sweetman v Coillte Teoranta in the Court of Justice of the European Union on 12 April 2018, case reference C-323/17
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.