Land off Manston Road, Sturminster Newton, DT10 1AF

Outline application for the erection of up to 50 dwellings and associated works

Authority: Dorset
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Plenty B

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposed development would be in a suitable location, with regard to the settlement strategy set out in the LP
The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The substantial and permanent harm to landscape character from developing the site outweighed the housing and other benefits, including under a hypothetical tilted balance.

The significant and irreversible landscape harm was found to significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of housing delivery, affordable housing, economic benefits, design mitigation, accessibility and biodiversity net gain, even if the policies were deemed out-of-date and the paragraph 11(d) balance applied.

Framework references: 11, 78, 187, 233

Plan policies cited: LP policy 2, LP policy 4, LP policy 6, LP policy 19, LP policy 20, LP policy 24, NP policy 2, NP policy 7, NP policy 31

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.