Woodside Lodge Caravan Site, Durham Road, Wheatley Hill, DURHAM, DH6 3LJ

change of use of land to caravan/motorhome touring site at Woodside Lodge Caravan site

Authority: Durham County Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: leisure-sport · Change of use
Inspector: Francis M

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the proposal on highway safety
whether the site is suitable for the proposed development having regard to its accessibility
the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the landscape
whether it satisfies biodiversity net gain (BNG)

What decided it

The cumulative effect of severe highway safety concerns, unsustainable accessibility reliant on private vehicles, harm to landscape character in a designated area, and failure to secure adequate biodiversity net gain meant the proposal conflicted with the development plan with no material considerations to outweigh the harm.

Framework references: 187

Plan policies cited: Policy 10, Policy 21, Policy 8, Policy 29, Policy 39, Policy 41

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.