Lower Sweetcombe Farm , Road Past Hatway Cottage Farm, Sidbury, Devon, EX10 0QR

change of use of land from agricultural to holiday/tourism accommodation including the retention of a shepherd’s hut, shed (housing a kitchen/store and shower) and toilet

Authority: East Devon District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: leisure-sport · Change of use
Inspector: Rogers J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the location of the site is suitable for the development, having regard to the local development strategy and the accessibility of the appeal site to shops, services and facilities via sustainable modes of travel and transport
the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area, with particular reference to the East Devon Natural Landscape (EDNL)

What decided it

The development conflicts with the development plan by locating holiday accommodation in an unsustainable countryside location contrary to Policy E16, and causes harm to the East Devon Natural Landscape which attracts great weight in the planning balance.

Plan policies cited: Strategy 7, Strategy 33, Strategy 3, Strategy 5B, Strategy 46, Policy E16, Policy TC2, Policy TC12, Policy D1, Policy E4, Policy E5, Neighbourhood Plan for Sid Valley 2018-2032 Policy 1, Neighbourhood Plan for Sid Valley 2018-2032 Policy 7

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.