Land And Buildings South West Of Moorland Grange Farm , Otley Road, Eldwick, West Yorkshire, BD16 3LX

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• the effect of the proposal on the South Pennine Moors Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC)
• whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the Framework
• the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
• whether the proposed development would make adequate provision for Biodiversity Net Gain
• whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The absence of a secured mitigation mechanism (s.106 obligation) to address the likely significant effect on the SPA and SAC integrity, combined with substantial harm to Green Belt openness and character and appearance, which together are not clearly outweighed by the moderate benefits of housing supply and economic contribution.

The substantial weight given to harm to the Green Belt, SPA/SAC and character and appearance of the area was not clearly outweighed by the moderate weight of benefits comprising housing supply contribution, economic benefits and biodiversity net gain, therefore very special circumstances do not exist to justify the inappropriate development.