®Planning appeal decision
South Fork, Land at Ngr 310236 115114, Culmstock, Devon, EX15 3HW
Planning appeal 3365184 at South Fork, Land at Ngr 310236 115114, Culmstock, Devon, EX15 3HW (Mid Devon District Council) was allowed in part (a split decision) on 28 November 2025 by Inspector Renaudon L, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: A preliminary question arising in the appeals against the notice under ground (b) is whether the matters alleged by the notice have in fact occurred.
Change of use of land to a Gypsy and Traveller site for one family, to include one mobile home and one touring caravan (retrospective), with linked enforcement appeals against a notice alleging change of use from agricultural to residential use and unauthorised hardstanding
- Authority
- Mid Devon District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- caravan-gypsy · Change of use
- Inspector
- Renaudon L
- Postcode
- EX15 3HW
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- A preliminary question arising in the appeals against the notice under ground (b) is whether the matters alleged by the notice have in fact occurred
- The impact of the development on the character and appearance of the area, including the Blackdown Hills National Landscape, is the main issue in the appeals
- The question of consistency in decision making, or what material change in circumstances has arisen that would justify a decision inconsistent with that of the previous Inspector
- If the notice is to be upheld, whether the 12 months given for compliance is too short
What decided it
The re-siting of the mobile home and touring caravan to parts of the site making little contribution to the setting of the Blackdown Hills National Landscape meant the development did not conflict with Policy DM7 or harm the protected landscape.
The absence of unacceptable landscape, ecological or flood risk impacts and overall compliance with Policy DM7 outweighed the limited adverse weight attributable to the intentional unauthorised nature of the development, such that no material considerations justified departing from the development plan.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy DM7Policy DM27Policy DM1Policy S1Policy S9Policy DM9Policy DM28Policy S14
- Judgments
- Wadhurst Parish Council v SSHCLG [2025] EWHC 1735 (Admin); R (CPRE Kent Branch) v SSHCLG [2025] EWHC 1781 (Admin)
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Mid Devon
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025
- Allowed14 April 2026600116029 Honiton Road, Cullompton, Devon, EX15 1PA
- Notice varied and upheld29 January 20263340220Church Lea Old Village, Willand, Cullompton, EX15 2RH
- Notice varied and upheld29 January 20263340219Church Lea Old Village, Willand, Cullompton, EX15 2RH
- Notice varied and upheld29 January 20263340213Church Lea Old Village, Willand, Cullompton, EX15 2RH
- Notice upheld19 January 20263351481Woodah Wood, Eggesford, Devon, EX18 7ER
The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.