Land North of Muchmores Farm , Blake End Great Saling, Braintree, Essex

for the change of use to storage compound (Use Class B8), erection of 1.8m weldmesh fencing, laying of hardcore and vehicular accesses

Authority: Braintree District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: employment-industrial · Change of use
Inspector: Walker C

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the countryside
whether the appeal site is a suitable location for the development, having regard to local and national policies

What decided it

The development conflicts with the spatial strategy by locating a non-agricultural storage use in the open countryside outside the settlement boundary, and the substantial harm to the character and appearance of the countryside outweighs the modest economic benefits.

Plan policies cited: Policy LPP67, Policy SAL2, Policy LPP1, Policy SP5, Policy LPP2, Policy SAL8

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.

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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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In the app this decision sits on the map beside every other appeal around it, with the full reasoning summary, the letter held on file, and the case law it applies.