®Planning appeal decision
Land at East Cottage, Watton Road, Shropham, Norfolk, NR17 1DY
Outline permission for 1 self build dwelling
- Authority
- Breckland Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Phillips A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Relevant policies for the location of housing in line with the Council's spatial strategy and its accessibility to services and/or facilities
- The effect on European protected habitat sites
- Whether the proposal meets the definition of a self-build dwelling and the requirements of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) exemption
What decided it
The significant harm to biodiversity from impact on European protected habitat sites, combined with the unsustainable location lacking safe pedestrian and cycle access, means the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the Framework as a whole.
The benefits of a single self-build dwelling in supporting rural services and limited economic benefits during construction are significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the significant harm to biodiversity and the unsustainable location with heavy reliance on private motor vehicles.
Framework references: 11, 78, 110, 115, 117
Plan policies cited: Policy GEN01, Policy GEN03, Policy GEN05, Policy HOU4, Policy ENV02
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.