Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Allowed12 May 20263355092

Yorkshire Water Castleford Waste Treatment Works , Wheldon Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire , WF10 2PP

Planning appeal 3355092 at Yorkshire Water Castleford Waste Treatment Works , Wheldon Road, Castleford, West Yorkshire , WF10 2PP (Wakefield Metropolitan District Council) was allowed on 12 May 2026 by Inspector Kean G, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the proposed solar equipment is permitted development considering the definitions of a "building" and "plant or machinery" in the GPDO.

Proposed Ground Mounted Solar Array, on operational land at Castleford Wastewater Treatment Works with installed generating capacity of up to 354kW and would be connected to the WWTW via underground cables , power generated to be utilised by Yorkshire Water to power the operations of the WWTW, with very occasionally any excess power produced to be exported to the grid. __________________________________________________________________________________

Authority
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
Appeal type
ldc · Lawful Development Certificate
Procedure
Written Representations
Development
utilities-energy · Other minor developments
Inspector
Kean G
Postcode
WF10 2PP

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • whether the proposed solar equipment is permitted development considering the definitions of a "building" and "plant or machinery" in the GPDO
  • whether the proposals can only be considered in Part 14, not Part 13 of GPDO

What decided it

Ground-mounted solar arrays are properly characterised as 'plant or machinery' under Article 2(1) of the GPDO because they constitute apparatus used for carrying on the sewerage undertaker's business of generating power for WWTW operations, rather than premises or buildings.

What the Inspector cited

Judgments
Skerrits of Nottingham Limited v. SSETR [2000] EWCA Civ 5569; Barvis Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment and Another (1971) 22 P&CR 710; Cheshire County Council v Woodward and Another [1962] 2WLR 636; Wimpy International Ltd. v Warland (1987) 61 T.C. 51; Wimpy International Ltd. v Warland [1989] S.T.C. 273; ACT Construction Ltd v Customs and Excise Commissioners [1981] 1 WLR; Evans v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2014] EWHC 4111 (Admin); Inland Revenue Commissioners v Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd [1969] 1 W.L.R. 675; Yarmouth v. France (1887) 19 Q.B.D. 647; Blake v Shaw (1860) Johnson 732 70 E.R. 615; Haigh v Charles W Ireland Ltd House of Lords (Scotland) [1974] 1 W.L.R. 43; R (on the application of Gabriel Clarke-Holland) v Secretary of State for the Home Department Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities v Braintree DC, Secretary of State for Defence [2023] EWHC 3140 (Admin); CAB Housing Ltd v SSLUHC [2023] EWCA Civ 194; R (Mawbey) v Lewisham; R v Oxfordshire County Council and another, ex parte Sunningwell Parish Council [1999] 3 All E R 385; Carr v Sayer (1992) 65 T.C. 15; Garland v MHLG [1968] 20 P&CR 9; R. (on the application of Nigel Mawbey), London Borough of Lewisham Council, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government v Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Ltd. [2019] EWCA Civ 1016

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

18 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision
An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter
Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.
Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app
Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.
Start your free trial

More decisions in Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026

  1. Dismissed20 October 20266011847
    Ossett News & off Licence, 5-7 Market Place,, Ossett, WF5 8PY
  2. Dismissed20 October 20266011837
    Ossett News & off Licence, 5-7 Market Place,, Ossett, WF5 8PY
  3. Dismissed14 October 20266013140
    67 Dewsbury Road, Wakefield, WF2 9BL
  4. Allowed14 September 20266006811
    Hall Croft House, Castleford Road, Normanton, WF6 2DN
  5. Notice varied and upheld1 September 20263371510
    25 Milton Street, Wakefield, WF2 8TL

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.