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Allowed9 March 20263375424

Land Adjacent to Wigan Lane,, Heath Charnock, Adlington, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 4JT

Planning appeal 3375424 at Land Adjacent to Wigan Lane,, Heath Charnock, Adlington, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 4JT (Lancashire County Council) was allowed on 9 March 2026 by Inspector Hughes L, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the proposed development would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework ('the Framework') (2024) and any relevant development plan policies.

the erection of an Anaerobic Digester Unit with associated infrastructure

Authority
Lancashire County Council
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Hearing
Development
utilities-energy · Major general industry/storage/warehousing
Inspector
Hughes L
Postcode
PR7 4JT

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • whether the proposed development would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework ('the Framework') (2024) and any relevant development plan policies
  • the effect of the proposed development on the openness of the Green Belt
  • the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area
  • whether other considerations clearly outweigh the harm to the Green Belt and any other harm so as to amount to very special circumstances

What decided it

The renewable energy, net zero and other socio-economic/environmental benefits, taken together, clearly outweighed the substantial Green Belt harm and significant character and appearance harm, establishing very special circumstances.

Substantial harm from inappropriateness and loss of openness in the Green Belt, together with significant harm to character and appearance, were clearly outweighed by significant weight to renewable energy benefits and moderate/minor weight to rural economy, site selection, socio-economic and biodiversity benefits, such that very special circumstances existed and the appeal was allowed.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
CS Policy 28MWLP Policy DM2LP Policy EP3CS Policy 13
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 142Paragraph 153Paragraph 154Paragraph 155Paragraph 160Paragraph 161Paragraph 168Paragraph 201Paragraph 88Paragraph 57Paragraph 143

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

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