Foxleigh Stables, Budge Lane, Blatchbridge, Frome, Somerset, BA11 5EH

Planning appeal 3357776 at Foxleigh Stables, Budge Lane, Blatchbridge, Frome, Somerset, BA11 5EH (Mendip District Council *) was allowed in part (a split decision) on 13 May 2025 by Inspector Boughton A, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the development is suitably located having regard to the relevant policies of the development plan.

Retention of 4 stables/tack room and outdoor menage and construction of hay store

Authority: Mendip District Council *
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: agricultural · Other minor developments
Inspector: Boughton A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the development is suitably located having regard to the relevant policies of the development plan
Whether the development would be afforded safe and suitable access

What decided it

The commercial intensification of use would undermine rural character and create highway safety risks at an access point on the A361 near a traffic island, which could not be adequately controlled by conditions given the uncertainty about how private use would be enforced against the background of the original commercial business relocation proposal.

The benefits of retaining private equine facilities and constructing a hay store were outweighed by the harm to rural character and highway safety that would result from commercial intensification, but the appeal was allowed in part by imposing conditions to restrict the use to private purposes and control site layout to preserve rural character.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies: Core Policy 1Core Policy 4Policy DP9

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.

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The decision letter

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19 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

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More decisions in Mendip District Council

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

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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.