Ridge House Hoe Lane, Nazeing, WALTHAM ABBEY, EN9 2RJ

erection of five new detached dwellings

Authority: Epping Forest District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Catcheside E

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, land use, and the amount of development proposed, with particular consideration to: the effect of the proposal on the integrity of the Epping Forest Special Area of Conservation; whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt; and whether any harm would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to very special circumstances

What decided it

The absence of a mechanism to secure mitigation for the EFSAC at the permission in principle stage, combined with the substantial harm to Green Belt openness, meant that the very special circumstances necessary to justify the development did not exist and the proposal constituted habitats development precluded by Article 5B of the Order.

The benefits of housing delivery and efficient use of previously developed land (ascribed significant and moderate weight respectively) did not clearly outweigh the substantial harm to the Green Belt by way of inappropriateness and loss of openness (ascribed substantial weight), and the harm to the EFSAC integrity could not be overcome in the absence of secured mitigation.

Framework references: 11, 143, 154, 155

Plan policies cited: Policy DM2, Policy DM4

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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