Land Adjacent to Garden Cottage, Oakridge Lynch, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 7NP

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the development accords with the spatial strategy
• Its impact on the character and appearance of the area
• Whether it would further the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the Cotswolds National Landscape
• Its effect on the natural environment
• The effect on highway safety and the sustainability of the location
• If development plan conflict would occur in relation to any or all of these, whether material considerations indicate that the decision should be otherwise than in accordance with the development plan

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply (3.24 years) rendered the spatial strategy policies out-of-date, triggering the tilted balance under NPPF paragraph 11(d)(ii), and the significant benefits of delivering 9 dwellings including 3 affordable units outweighed the limited harm to the National Landscape and countryside.

The benefits of delivering 9 additional dwellings (significant weight) and 3 affordable housing units (significant weight) outweighed the limited harm to the spatial strategy, character and appearance, and the National Landscape (great weight afforded to the latter but limited in extent), with the housing land supply shortfall reducing the weight given to spatial strategy conflicts