Land to south of High Street/Church Road, Wick

‘infill residential development of a minimum/maximum of nine self-build dwellings’

Authority: South Gloucestershire Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Jones M

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, the proposed land use and the amount of development, with particular reference to:
the effect of the proposal on the setting of the Grade I listed building Wick Court
whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt
the effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The combined great weight attached to harm to the setting of the Grade I listed Wick Court and the substantial weight attached to Green Belt harm (inappropriateness and openness) were not clearly outweighed by the benefits, so very special circumstances did not exist.

The significant benefits of the scheme (housing land supply shortfall, self-build need, economic and environmental benefits) did not clearly outweigh the great weight given to heritage harm and the substantial weight given to Green Belt harm, so very special circumstances did not exist and the proposal conflicted with the development plan as a whole

Framework references: 11, 142, 145, 154

Plan policies cited: Policy CS9, Policy PSP17, Policy CS5, Policy CS34

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.

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