®Planning appeal decision
Oak Bank Farm, Farthing Lane, Ashburnham, Battle, East Sussex, TN33 9PB
demolition of existing lawful dwelling and construction of permanent agricultural workers dwelling
- Authority
- Rother District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- agricultural · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Conde L
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the appeal scheme on the landscape character and scenic beauty of the High Weald National Landscape
- Whether the functional need for an agricultural worker's dwelling at the site can be fulfilled by the existing residential property of Oakwood
- The effect of the proposal on protected species, namely Great Crested Newts
What decided it
The Inspector found that the proposal caused harm to the landscape character and scenic beauty of the High Weald National Landscape and that the functional need had not been shown to be incapable of being met by the existing Oakwood dwelling, which together with unresolved ecological harm led to dismissal.
The acknowledged socio-economic benefits of securing the farm dwelling did not outweigh the harm to the landscape character and scenic beauty of the High Weald National Landscape, the unresolved potential for the need to be met by Oakwood, and the unresolved risk of harm to Great Crested Newts.
Framework references: 84
Plan policies cited: Policy EN1(i), Policy DEN1, Policy DEN2, Policy RA3(iii), Policy DEN4
Judgments cited: Bernard Wheatcroft Ltd v SSE [JPL 1982 P37]; Holborn Studios Ltd v The Council of the London Borough of Hackney [2017] EWHC 2823 (Admin)
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.