Land to the East of Broad Street Green Road, Broad Street Green , Heybridge , Essex, CM9 4BE

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the planning obligations in the Planning Agreement under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 would secure appropriate and acceptable mitigation for: (a) the provision of infrastructure to meet the needs of the development including measures to secure the delivery of public open space and its subsequent maintenance and management; and (b) measures to avoid any increase in recreational disturbance on the nearby Blackwater Estuary Special Protection Area and Ramsar sites through a financial contribution towards the Essex Coast Recreational disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy
• Whether there are other material considerations which tell against or support the proposals
• Whether any adverse impacts arising from the above would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the development, when assessed against the policies in the National Planning Policy Framework taken as a whole, having particular regard to key policies for directing development to sustainable locations, making effective use of land, securing well-designed places and providing affordable homes, individually or in combination

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a 5-year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance, and the substantial housing and affordable housing benefits were found to demonstrably outweigh the limited and less-than-substantial harms identified.

The substantial combination of public benefits, particularly market and affordable housing delivery, demonstrably outweighed the less than substantial (lower end) harm to the setting of the listed Lofts Farm buildings and other limited harms, so the adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits under the tilted balance.