Land at Dale Farm, Maidwell, NN6 9JE

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the proposal would be acceptable with regard to ecology (protected species) archaeology (sub-surface assets) and flooding (surface water drainage).
• The effect of the proposal on the aims of policies which seek to direct the location of new residential development and whether there are other considerations such as in paragraph 84 of the National Planning Policy Framework sufficient to permit the proposal, including landscape character and appearance.
• If conflict with the development plan, when taken as a whole is identified, whether such conflict is outweighed by other material considerations.

What decided it

The appellant's failure to provide adequate, up-to-date ecological and archaeological information meant the Inspector could not be satisfied protected species and sub-surface heritage assets would not be harmed, which alone would have resulted in dismissal irrespective of the design conclusion.

The benefits of the bespoke, sustainable design and modest economic benefits were outweighed by the harm and conflicts with the development plan as a whole and the Framework arising from inadequate ecological/archaeological information, unresolved flood risk drainage concerns, and failure to meet the paragraph 84(e) exceptional design test.