Stables Barn Hay Lane, Longdon Green, RUGELEY, Staffordshire, WS15 4QQ

Installation of a solar photovoltaic cell array on outbuilding roof, erect a lean-to battery store, install new 3 x windows and 4 x skylights

Authority: Lichfield District Council
Appeal type: householder · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Householder developments
Inspector: Stephens K

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposals would preserve the Grade II listed building known as Broomy Fields or its setting or any features of special architectural or historic interest which it possesses
The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
Whether sufficient information has been provided regarding the effect of the proposed development on protected species

What decided it

The harm to the significance of the listed building from the visually incongruous PV panels and additional openings, which would erode the building's agrarian character, was not outweighed by the limited public benefits of renewable energy and improved daylight.

Framework references: 212, 213, 214, 215

Plan policies cited: Policy CP1, Policy CP2, Policy CP3, Policy CP14, Policy SC2, Policy BE1, Policy BE2, Policy NR3

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.