Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Allowed10 July 20253356688

Land South of Sandhill, Hermitage, Thatcham, RG18 9XU

Planning appeal 3356688 at Land South of Sandhill, Hermitage, Thatcham, RG18 9XU (West Berkshire District Council) was allowed on 10 July 2025 by Inspector Chamberlain G, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area, especially the North Wessex Downs National Landscape (NL).

‘Change of use of land for the formation of 5 Gypsy/Traveller pitches comprising of 1 mobile home, 1 touring caravan, and 1 utility building per pitch ’

Authority
West Berkshire District Council
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Inquiry
Development
caravan-gypsy · Major traveller and caravan pitches
Inspector
Chamberlain G
Postcode
RG18 9XU

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area, especially the North Wessex Downs National Landscape (NL)
  • The weight to be attached to intentional unauthorised development (IUD)
  • Whether in a planning balance any harmful effects arising from the proposal would be outweighed by other considerations

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of pitches, combined with the absence of alternative accommodation for the travellers, meant the limited landscape harm did not provide a strong reason to withhold permission under the tilted balance.

the advantages of the proposal, including the contribution to pitch supply, the absence of alternatives and wider sustainability benefits, outweighed the 'great weight' afforded to the limited harm to the National Landscape, and the collective adverse impacts including IUD did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy SP2Policy SP7Policy SP8Policy DM20Policy DM1Policy DM15Policy HER2
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 11Paragraph 189
Judgments
Monkhill Ltd v SSHCLG [2021]; R (Morris) v Wealden District Council [2014] EWHC 4081 (Admin

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

10 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 West Berkshire

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025

  1. Allowed29 September 20266012621
    Land South of Sandhill, Hampstead Norreys Road, Hermitage, Thatcham, RG18 9XU
  2. Dismissed28 September 20266009359
    76 Mallard Way, Aldermaston, Reading, RG7 4US
  3. Dismissed4 September 20266009718
    Vyners Estate,, Mill Lane, Tidmarsh, Reading, RG8 8EB
  4. Allowed2 September 20266009448
    Compounds A, A1, And A4, Youngs Industrial Estate, Paices Hill, Aldermaston, Reading, RG7 4PW
  5. Dismissed26 June 20266005876
    Royal Berkshire Shooting School, Tomb Farm, Ashampstead, RG8 8SD

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.