Bramble Cottage, Greensmiths Lane, Upper Leigh, Staffordshire, ST10 4NY

‘Installation of a 49.9MW solar photovoltaic array/solar farm with associated infrastructure’

Authority: East Staffordshire Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Parker C

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area, including on the landscape
The effect of the proposal on the living conditions of nearby occupiers

What decided it

The substantial public benefits of renewable energy generation and associated biodiversity/economic benefits outweighed the limited landscape harm and the less than substantial heritage harm identified.

The substantial benefits of renewable energy generation, biodiversity net gain and economic benefits outweighed the limited harm to character and appearance and the less than substantial harm to the setting of heritage assets, tipping the balance in favour of granting permission.

Framework references: 57, 135, 168, 212, 215

Plan policies cited: Policy SP1, Policy SP8, Policy SP24, Policy SP30, Policy DP1, Policy SD2, Policy SS10, Policy DC1, Policy DC3

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.