Land Adjacent to Floss & Smile Dental Practice, Tring Road, Eaton Bray, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 2FW

Authority: Central Bedfordshire
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: leisure-sport · Change of use
Inspector: Sylvester G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the appeal development is inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to any relevant development plan policies and the National Planning Policy Framework and any effects on Green Belt openness and its purposes
The effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area including the landscape and scenic beauty of the Chilterns National Landscape
Whether the development is in a suitable location having particular regard to its accessibility and relevant development plan policies
If the appeal development is inappropriate development, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify it

What decided it

The substantial weight given to the harm to Green Belt openness and the purpose of safeguarding the countryside from encroachment, combined with moderate harm to landscape character and the setting of the Chilterns National Landscape, was not clearly outweighed by the other considerations, meaning very special circumstances did not exist to justify the development.

Framework references: 11, 88, 89, 135, 154, 187, 189

Plan policies cited: Policy SP4, Policy SP7, Policy HQ1, Policy EE5, Policy EE7, Policy EMP4

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.