Allbrook, Lower Interfields, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 1UU

conversion of existing agricultural building to self-build dwelling

Authority: Malvern Hills District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Han U

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the location of the site is suitable for the proposed development, having regard to the development plan and the Framework
whether the proposed development would provide an appropriate contribution towards affordable housing

What decided it

The site's poor accessibility by sustainable transport modes, which would result in reliance on private car use, conflicts with the development plan and NPPF paragraph 110, and this conflict significantly and demonstrably outweighs the modest benefit of providing one additional dwelling in a context of housing shortfall.

The adverse impacts of the proposal, comprising conflict with development plan policies directing development to sustainable locations and the resulting reliance on private car use, significantly and demonstrably outweigh the modest benefits of providing an additional dwelling to the local housing supply; the presumption in favour of sustainable development does not apply.

Framework references: 8, 11, 110

Plan policies cited: Policy SWDP1, Policy SWDP2, Policy SWDP4, Policy SWDP12, Policy SWDP15, Policy LB/H/2, Policy LB/H/4

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.

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