Little Silver Quarry, Muddiford, Barnstaple, EX31 4HQ

Without planning permission within the last 10 years unauthorised change of use of land to residential use including the storage and residential use of mobile homes on the land

Authority: North Devon District Council
Appeal type: enforcement · Enforcement Notice
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Curnow R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Is there an essential need for a full-time residential presence on the land?
Whether the site is in a sustainable location in terms of access to services and facilities?

What decided it

A functional need for a full-time residential presence was proven for only one dwelling under Policy DM28/the SPD, with no justification demonstrated for the other three units in an unsustainable rural location.

Although the tilted balance was engaged due to the lack of a 5YHLS, the adverse impacts of retaining three unjustified residential units in a poorly sustainable location significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits, while the benefits of one dwelling meeting a proven functional need outweighed the sustainability concerns and accorded with the development plan.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy ST07, Policy DM28

Judgments cited: Burdle & Williams v SSE & New Forest DC [1972] 1 WLR 1207

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.