Ditchling Rugby Club, Land At Keymer Road , Ditchling , East Sussex, BN6 8TR

engineering works, consisting of re-profiling of site and realignment of pitch, new drainage system, creation of new access from Clayton Road leading to new parking area, erection of groundsman's store/facilities, associated landscaping, and extension to the existing allowed playing season

Authority: South Downs
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: leisure-sport · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Young D

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the development on the landscape character of the South Downs National Park
Highway safety

What decided it

The considerable social and community benefits of the proposed development, including provision of essential facilities for a thriving local sports club with strong community support, outweighed the identified limited landscape harm to the South Downs National Park.

Framework references: 11, 88, 96, 111, 115, 181, 189

Plan policies cited: Policy CONS 6, Policy CONS 7, Policy CONS 11, Policy CONS 12, Policy SD4, Policy SD19, Policy SD22, Policy SD25, Policy SD43, Policy SD46, Policy SD49

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.