Roughground Farm Beggarmans Lane , Old Hall Green , Hertfordshire , SG11 1HB

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether, having regard to local and national planning policies that seek to avoid isolated new homes in the countryside and to limit development in the Rural Area beyond the Green Belt, there is an essential need for a rural worker to live permanently at or near their place of work

What decided it

The failure to demonstrate that a permanent on-site dwelling is essential to the needs of the agricultural business, combined with the availability of suitable alternative accommodation within reasonable commuting distance and the unsustainable location of the proposed development, meant that the scheme could not be justified under Policy HOU5 and would conflict with policies protecting the Rural Area Beyond the Green Belt.

The moderate benefits of operational consolidation, low-carbon design, biodiversity net gain and housing delivery were substantially outweighed by the significant harm of introducing an isolated new dwelling in an unsustainable location contrary to development plan policies protecting the countryside, resulting in adverse impacts that significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits when assessed against the Framework as a whole.