Hawkes Mead, Stambourne Road, Little Sampford, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 2QS

the construction of a single residential infill dwelling, alongside associated development

Authority: Uttlesford District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Whitfield H

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the appeal site would be a suitable location for housing, having particular regard to (i) location, accessibility to services and facilities and (ii) the character and appearance of the area
the effect of the proposed development on designated and non-designated heritage assets

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, combined with the limited conflict with the development plan and the identified benefits of housing delivery, outweighed the site's poor accessibility to services and facilities.

The limited harm arising from conflict with the development plan (reliance on private vehicles for accessibility) was outweighed by the benefits of housing delivery, support for rural services, economic benefits from construction, and environmental benefits from using previously developed land and sustainable technologies, in the context of the tilted balance under NPPF paragraph 11(d)(ii).

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy S7, Policy GEN1(e), Policy GEN2, Policy ENV2, Policy ENV15

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.