171 Castle Hill Road, Totternhoe, DUNSTABLE, LU6 1QQ

the adaptation of existing highways access point from Castle Hill Road and creation of new access road to serve proposed development of three new detached chalet style bungalows with garaging, parking and turning areas

Authority: Central Bedfordshire
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Other minor developments
Inspector: McGlone A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal development would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the development plan and the National Planning Policy Framework
whether the proposal is required to deliver BNG, and if so, would the proposal achieve that
the effect of the proposal on the SAC

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year supply of deliverable housing sites (4.85 years) combined with the site's location within the village and the availability of mitigation for ecological impacts through secured unilateral undertakings.

The unmet housing need arising from the Council's shortfall in five-year housing land supply and the sustainable location of the site outweighed the limited encroachment onto open rural character, particularly given the containment of development by existing field boundaries and the availability of mitigation for SAC impacts.

Framework references: 110, 115, 154, 155, 58, 11

Plan policies cited: Policy SP4, Policy T1, Policy EE2, Policy T8, Policy EE3, Policy T2

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.

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Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

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