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Planning appeal decision

Dismissed31 October 20253365311

Land at Usworth House Farm, Peareth Hall Road, Springwell, Gateshead, NE9 7NT

Planning appeal 3365311 at Land at Usworth House Farm, Peareth Hall Road, Springwell, Gateshead, NE9 7NT (Sunderland City Council) was dismissed on 31 October 2025 by Inspector Bore J, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The contribution the scheme would make towards the generation of renewable energy.

the installation of a renewable energy generating solar farm comprising ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays together with substation, tower connection, transformer stations, switch room, site accesses, internal access tracks, security measures, access gates, other ancillary infrastructure and landscaping and biodiversity enhancements

Authority
Sunderland City Council
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Written Representations
Development
utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector
Bore J
Postcode
NE9 7NT

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • The contribution the scheme would make towards the generation of renewable energy
  • The effect of the proposal on the Green Belt and the landscape
  • The loss of productive agricultural land

What decided it

The scheme would constitute inappropriate development in the Green Belt causing significant harm to the openness and integrity of a particularly vulnerable part of the Green Belt that plays an important role in separating settlements, and this harm significantly outweighed the renewable energy benefits.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Strategic priority 9 of the Sunderland Core Strategy Development PlanPolicy NE9 of the Sunderland Core StrategyPolicy NE11 of the Sunderland Core StrategyPolicy WWE1 of the Sunderland Core StrategyPolicy NE12 of the Sunderland Core StrategyPolicy NE6 of the Sunderland Core Strategy Development Plan

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 applied

The decision letter

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The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025

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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.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.