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Planning appeal decision

Allowed8 December 20253370612

Land and buildings off Sandhole Lane, Marthall, Cheshire , WA16 8SR

demolition of existing warehouse building and erection of 4 detached two-storey dwellings

Authority
Cheshire East
Appeal type
minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Written Representations
Development
residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector
Smith J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • whether the proposal is inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and any development plan policies, including any relevant effects on the openness of the Green Belt
  • if inappropriate, whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The fallback position of the lawful development certificate for the warehouse extension, which would result in greater built form and harm to openness than the proposed dwellings, combined with the housing land supply shortfall and housing delivery benefits, clearly outweighed the harm to the Green Belt.

The substantial harm to the openness of the Green Belt from the siting of plot one beyond the fallback footprint was clearly outweighed by the fallback position itself, the shortfall in housing land supply (3.8 years), the provision of four family-sized dwellings on previously developed land, and economic benefits, establishing very special circumstances.

Framework references: 11, 153, 154

Plan policies cited: Policy PG3, Policy EG3, Policy PG1, Policy MP1, Policy SD2, Policy SC4, Policy HOU1, Policy HOU14

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.

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.