4, Bullens Green Lane, Colney Heath, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, AL4 0QS

Authority: St Albans City Council
Appeal type: householder · Householder (HAS)
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Jarvis P

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to relevant development plan policy and the National Planning Policy Framework
the effect on Green Belt openness
whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness and any other harm would be clearly outweighed by other considerations to amount to very special circumstances such as to justify the development

What decided it

The proposal results in disproportionate additions over and above the size of the original building, constituting inappropriate development in the Green Belt with no very special circumstances demonstrated to justify approval.

Framework references: 154, 232, 153

Plan policies cited: Policy 1, Policy 13, Policy 69, Policy 72

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.

Town Planner Pro

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.
Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.
The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.

Join the waiting list

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every other appeal around it, with the full reasoning summary, the letter held on file, and the case law it applies.