®Planning appeal decision
Wappingthorn Lodge, Horsham Road, Steyning, West Sussex, BN44 3AA
‘Extensions, alterations and change of use of stables, garage and machinery store to form 1 x dwellinghouse’
- Authority
- Horsham District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Smith J
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the proposed development would provide a suitable location for housing, having regard to the Council's spatial strategy, the provisions of the Framework and access to services and facilities
What decided it
The substantial shortfall in housing land supply (2.9 years) triggered the presumption in favour of sustainable development under paragraph 11d of the Framework, and since the level of harm and benefits carried similar weight, the adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against Framework policies as a whole.
The moderate harm from conflict with the Council's spatial strategy and moderate harm from car dependency were balanced against modest benefits including a small contribution to housing supply, economic benefits, diversity of housing stock, and reuse of existing buildings without character harm; the benefits and harms carried comparable weight, and the presumption in favour of sustainable development under paragraph 11d applied.
Framework references: 11, 11d, 48, 84, 84c
Plan policies cited: Policy 1, Policy 2, Policy 3, Policy 4, Policy 10, Policy 26, Policy 31, Policy 37, Policy 40, Policy 32 (emerging), Steyning Neighbourhood Plan 2022
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.