®Planning appeal decision
Thornley Bank Kennels & Cattery, Hollinhill Lane, Rowlands Gill, Tyne and Wear, NE39 1BG
Planning appeal 3350113 at Thornley Bank Kennels & Cattery, Hollinhill Lane, Rowlands Gill, Tyne and Wear, NE39 1BG (Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council) was dismissed on 11 February 2025 by Inspector Storey P, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, the proposed land use and the amount of development, with specific regard to access to services and sustainable transport.
application for permission in principle for the demolition of boarding kennels and cattery along with the associated residential dwelling, and the construction of between five and six dwellings
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Storey P
- Postcode
- NE39 1BG
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, the proposed land use and the amount of development, with specific regard to access to services and sustainable transport
- Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, and if so, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations amounting to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development
What decided it
The proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt causing substantial harm to openness, and the benefits do not constitute very special circumstances to outweigh this harm, particularly given the site's unsustainable location remote from services and sustainable transport.
The substantial weight directed by the Framework to harm to the Green Belt outweighed the limited weight of the benefits including housing supply, economic contributions, and potential aesthetic improvements, such that very special circumstances do not exist to justify the development.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy CS13Policy MSGP15Policy CS19
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 84Paragraph 109Paragraph 143Paragraph 154Paragraph 155Paragraph 153Paragraph 11
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Gateshead
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025
- Dismissed21 September 20266008659Land North Of Willies Well, Crawcrook, Ryton, NE41 8JL
- Dismissed24 December 20253373808Agricultural Building North West of Pockerley Riding School, Birtley, Gateshead, DH9 0RZ
- Allowed16 December 20253372581The Cottage, Mansion Heights, Dunston Hill, Whickham, Gateshead Borough, NE11 9DL
- Dismissed31 July 20253363657Land to the South East of Weir View Cottage, Lintzfod Road, Rowlands Gill, NE39 1NB
- Dismissed7 May 20243337515Anndale, Stannerford Road, Clara Vale, Ryton, Gateshead, NE40 3SN
The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.