The Blacksmiths Building, The Forge, Cuckfield Road, Staplefield, RH17 6ET

the use of the building as a C3 dwelling house

Authority: Mid Sussex District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Heppell J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the appeal site would be a suitable location for the proposed development having regard to local and national policy
the impact of the proposed development on the living conditions of future occupiers with particular reference to outlook and privacy

What decided it

The proposal accords with the development plan taken as a whole, particularly the countryside development policies which permit the re-use of rural buildings for residential use, and the site is not in an unsustainable location.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy DP6, Policy DP12, Policy DP15, Policy DP21, Policy DP26, Policy AS1

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.

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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.

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In the app this decision sits on the map beside every other appeal around it, with the full reasoning summary, the letter held on file, and the case law it applies.