®Planning appeal decision
Land at Sx 571 979 North of Brandize Cottage , Road From Meadowbright To Folly Gate Cross, Folly Gate , EX20 3AQ
Planning appeal 3359861 at Land at Sx 571 979 North of Brandize Cottage , Road From Meadowbright To Folly Gate Cross, Folly Gate , EX20 3AQ (West Devon Borough Council) was allowed on 13 August 2025 by Inspector Nicholls H, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the proposal would make a positive contribution to local housing needs.
10 new houses (6 affordable, 4 open market)
- Authority
- West Devon Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Nicholls H
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the proposal would make a positive contribution to local housing needs
- whether the site area would be appropriately divided between the open market and affordable housing tenures
- whether the design of the scheme would be adequate, having regard to layout, appearance, landscaping and distinguishability of tenures
- the effect of the proposal on trees
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply (2.53 years) engaged the tilted balance under paragraph 11(d) of the Framework, and the benefits of housing delivery outweighed the policy conflicts and identified harms.
The benefits of delivering 10 dwellings of mixed tenures, including economic benefits from construction and occupation, and the avoidance of further delay to housing supply, outweighed the degree of conflict with Policy TTV27 regarding land take allocation and Policy DEV28 regarding tree proximity, particularly in the context of a 50% shortfall in the Council's five-year housing land supply.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy DEV8Policy TTV27Policy STP1Policy DEV10Policy DEV20Policy DEV23Policy DEV28
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11Paragraph 131
- Judgments
- Holborn Studios Ltd v The Council of the London Borough of Hackney [2017] EWHC 2823
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 appliedThe decision letter
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With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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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.