Land at Carter's Lane, Middleton, ILKLEY, LS29 0DH

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• whether the appeal site is an appropriate location for residential development, having particular regard to the spatial strategy and accessibility of services and facilities
• whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt
• the effect of the proposal on the openness and purposes of the Green Belt
• the effect of the proposal on the living conditions of occupiers of No 1, with particular regard to the provision of daylight and sunlight, and outlook
• the effect of the proposal on highway safety
• whether any 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 is inappropriate development in the Green Belt that would cause substantial harm to its openness and purposes, and the site is not an appropriate location for residential development due to poor accessibility to services and facilities, and these harms are not clearly outweighed by the moderate benefits of housing supply and self-build provision.

The substantial weight given to harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness and harm to openness, combined with substantial weight to the locational unsuitability of the site, was not outweighed by the moderate weight ascribed to housing supply benefits, self-build provision (tempered by lack of mechanism to ensure self-build occupation), renewable energy measures and effective use of land, resulting in the very special circumstances test not being met.