Former Willow Tree Public House, 62 Station Road, Langley, SL3 8BT

Authority: Slough Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Wilders B

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether occupiers of the development have been provided with acceptable living conditions having particular regard to privacy and noise and disturbance
the effect of the development on the living conditions of the occupiers of neighbouring properties having particular regard to privacy and outlook
whether the design of the development and its effect on the character and appearance of the area is acceptable

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance under paragraph 11(d), and the substantial weight given to housing and affordable housing delivery outweighed the identified harms.

The significant harm to the living conditions of occupiers of Flat 10 and the limited harm to neighbouring occupiers' privacy were outweighed by the substantial weight attached to housing delivery and off-site affordable housing provision, together with moderate weight to biodiversity, environmental, economic and financial contribution benefits, such that the adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the Framework as a whole.

Framework references: 11, 58

Plan policies cited: Policy CP8, Policy CP1, Policy CP4, Policy CP7, Policy CP10, saved policy EN1, saved policy H14

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.