Somerford Park Farm, Holmes Chapel Road, Somerford, CONGLETON, Cheshire, CW12 4SW

outline approval for access matters for a proposed livery yard comprising a block of 20 stables and associated works, all other matters reserved

Authority: Cheshire East
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: leisure-sport · Other minor developments
Inspector: Rigby G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area
highway safety
biodiversity, with particular regard to hedgerows adjacent to the proposed access

What decided it

The combination of unacceptable harm to character and appearance due to poor relationship to existing equestrian buildings and unacceptable highway safety risks from the inadequate access arrangement on a busy bend with poor visibility outweighed the economic and biodiversity benefits.

Plan policies cited: Policy PG6 (Open Countryside), Policy EG2 (Rural Economy), Policy RUR7 (Equestrian Development Outside of Settlement Boundaries), Policy CO1 (Sustainable Travel and Transport), Policy INF3 (Highway Safety and Access), Policy SE5 (Trees, Hedgerow and Woodland), Policy ENV6 (Trees, Hedgerow and Woodland Implementation), Policy N2 (Trees and Hedgerows)

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.