Land at West Essex Golf Club and Netherhouse Farm, Bury Road, Chingford, Essex , E4 7QL

Construction of 10.7MWp Photovoltaic solar farm and associated infrastructure, including sub-station, cabinets, fencing, access tracks and grid connection

Authority: Epping Forest District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Pannell G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, in terms of land use and location, having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and any relevant development plan policies, including its effects on the openness of the Green Belt and the purposes of including land in it
whether the proposal would adversely affect the integrity of the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC)

What decided it

The appellant's failure to provide an agreed mitigation strategy and sufficient evidence to rule out significant adverse effects on the integrity of the Epping Forest SAC due to air pollution impacts, contrary to the Habitats Regulations.

Framework references: 110, 115, 143, 154, 155, 156, 157, 160, 193

Plan policies cited: Policy DM4, Policy DM2

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.