®Planning appeal decision
Shafford Knoll Farm Lower Road, Nash Mills, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HP3 8RT
outline planning application for construction of 30 dwellings (Use Class C3) and (up to) a 70 bed care home (Use Class C2), with new access to Lower Road and pedestrian links to canal towpath (Landscaping Reserved)
- Authority
- Dacorum Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Dyer I
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the relevant development plan policies and the National Planning Policy Framework
- The effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
- Whether the proposal would be of a suitable quality of design
- Whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, 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 proposal constitutes inappropriate development in the Green Belt that would cause substantial harm to openness and undermine a fundamental Green Belt purpose, and this harm is not clearly outweighed by the identified benefits, so very special circumstances do not exist to justify the development.
The substantial weight given to harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness and openness, combined with significant weight to design failings, was not outweighed by the substantial weight given to housing delivery (30 homes, 50% affordable, addressing a 1.03-year supply shortfall), moderate weight to care home provision and biodiversity net gain, and limited weight to public access and economic benefits, resulting in dismissal.
Framework references: 11, 143, 153, 154, 155, 156, 158
Plan policies cited: Policy CS1, Policy CS2, Policy CS5, Policy CS8, Policy CS10, Policy CS11, Policy CS12, Policy CS26, Saved Policy 76, Saved Policy 106, Saved Appendix 3, Saved Appendix C
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.