®Planning appeal decision
Land at Acres Croft, Forty Acre Lane, Twemlow Green, Holmes Chapel, Crewe, CW4 8DU
Planning appeal 3370340 at Land at Acres Croft, Forty Acre Lane, Twemlow Green, Holmes Chapel, Crewe, CW4 8DU (Cheshire East) was allowed in part (a split decision) on 14 January 2026 by Inspector Merrett R, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: the effect of the material change of use on the character and appearance of the countryside.
Without planning permission, the unauthorised operational development comprising the erection of a building shown in the approximate position hatched green on Plan B attached to this notice and ass ociated unauthorised operational development in the creation of an area of hardstanding shown in the approximate position hatched blue on Plan B attached to this notice
- Authority
- Cheshire East
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Householder developments
- Inspector
- Merrett R
- Postcode
- CW4 8DU
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect of the material change of use on the character and appearance of the countryside
- the significance of the loss of agricultural land
What decided it
Whether continuous residential use (for the change of use) or substantial completion (for the hardstanding) could be demonstrated over the requisite immunity periods determined each ground (d) outcome, while the merits of the change of use turned on the absence of harm to countryside character and the limited agricultural loss.
the benefits of the residential use to the private occupiers were found to clearly outweigh the loss of a small area of best and most versatile agricultural land, and the change of use was found not to conflict with the development plan as a whole
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy RUR 12Policy RUR 5
- Judgments
- Wallington v SSW [1991] JPL 942; Burford v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Anor [2017]; Challenge Fencing Limited v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2019] EWHC 553 (Admin); Oates v SSCLG [2017] EWHC 2716 (Admin)
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Cheshire East
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026
- Allowed21 September 20266010471Land South of Coppice Road, Higher Poynton, Poynton, SK12 1SP
- Split Decision27 July 20263375297Normans Hall Chelford Road, Prestbury, Macclesfield, SK10 4PT
- Split Decision27 July 20263375291Normans Hall Chelford Road, Prestbury, Macclesfield, SK10 4PT
- Notice varied and upheld27 July 20263363488Normans Hall Chelford Road, Prestbury, Macclesfield, SK10 4PT
- Dismissed1 April 20266004799Rosings,, Smith Lane,, Mobberley, Cheshire, WA16 7QD
The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.