Land at the rear of - 40 The Borough, Downton, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP5 3ND

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• the effects of the proposal on the character and appearance of the site and surroundings
• the heritage significance of the Grade II listed building, No 40 The Borough and the Downton Conservation Area
• the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers, with particular regard to privacy
• the River Avon Special Area of Conservation
• the New Forest Special Protection Area, New Forest Special Area of Conservation and New Forest Ramsar Site

What decided it

The inability to secure adequate and enforceable mitigation for adverse effects on the integrity of the River Avon SAC and New Forest Protected Sites, combined with the accumulated harms to character and appearance, heritage significance, and neighbouring living conditions, outweighed the public benefits of a single self-build dwelling in a location with housing undersupply.

The public benefits of delivering a self-build dwelling in a context of significant housing land undersupply were outweighed by the harms to protected European sites (which engaged footnote 7 of the Framework and disengaged the tilted balance), and by the accumulated harms to character and appearance, heritage significance, and neighbouring living conditions.