Land on the North-East side of Woodcote Road, Bedford, MK41 8FB

Construction and operation of a micro energy storage project and surrounding fence

Authority: Bedford Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Other minor developments
Inspector: Pannell G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The renewable energy benefits and carbon savings, combined with the assessment that the development would not cause unacceptable harm to character and appearance given its location within existing trees and urban context, justified allowing the appeal.

Framework references: 161, 168

Plan policies cited: Policy 28S(i), Policy 28S(ii), Policy 29(i), Policy 29(ii), Policy 30(i), Policy 30(ii), Policy 57(i)

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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