Land North of Theobald Drive, Tilehurst, Reading, Berkshire, RG31 6YA

Planning Application for Four Detached 3 Bedroom Houses with Covered Parking; Improvements to Theobald Drive; Hard and Soft Landscaping; Woodland Enhancement and Management; and Other Works”

Authority: West Berkshire District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Allen M

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect on the character and appearance of the area, including the effect on protected trees
Whether the proposal accords with the spatial strategy of the development plan
The effect on biodiversity, including whether the scheme would deliver the required Biodiversity Net Gain

What decided it

The unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the area through loss of protected trees and woodland, combined with conflict with the spatial strategy directing development away from higher environmental quality sites, outweighed the limited benefits of the scheme.

Plan policies cited: SP1, SP8, SP10, SP11, DM15

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.