Crowcroft House Farm Crowcroft, Leigh Sinton, MALVERN, WR13 5ED

Retrospective Planning Application for the Retention of Unit 4 and 5 for Use Class E(g)

Authority: Malvern Hills District Council
Appeal type: enforcement · Enforcement Notice
Procedure: Hearing
Development: employment-industrial · Change of use
Inspector: Merrett R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the development accords with the Council's policies for employment in rural areas?
The effect of the development on the living conditions of nearby residents.
Highway and pedestrian safety.

What decided it

The very limited scale and low traffic/noise impact of the retained dog hydrotherapy and small storage uses meant no harm arose to living conditions or highway safety, and this outweighed any residual conflict with the sustainable travel policy.

the limited scale and rural economic benefits of the retained dog hydrotherapy and storage uses outweighed any conflict with Policy SWDP 4 on sustainable travel, tipping in favour of granting permission for those uses

Plan policies cited: SWDP 2, SWDP 8, SWDP 12, SWDP 4, SWDP 31, SWDP 21

Judgments cited: Caldwell & Timberstore Ltd v SSLUHC & Buckinghamshire Council [2024] EWCA Civ 467

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.

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