Downs Barns, Bygrave, Baldock, SG7 5EE

the erection of four link-detached three-bedroom dwellings with garaging following the demolition of the existing commercial storage buildings

Authority: North Hertfordshire District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: De Freitas Terceiro P

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the relevant development plan policies, the provisions of the Framework and the effect on the openness of the Green Belt
The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The delivery of one additional dwelling on previously developed land in the context of a significant housing supply shortfall outweighs the limited harm to character and appearance.

The considerable benefits of housing delivery on previously developed land outweighed the limited harm to character and appearance, applying the presumption in favour of sustainable development under NPPF paragraph 11(d)(ii)

Framework references: 11, 110, 115, 143, 154, 155

Plan policies cited: Policy SP5, Policy SP9, Policy D1

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.