®Planning appeal decision
Land adjacent to Wigan Lane,, Heath Charnock, Adlington, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 4JT
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
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.
Framework references: 142, 153, 154, 155, 160, 161, 168, 201, 88, 57, 143
Plan policies cited: CS Policy 28, MWLP Policy DM2, LP Policy EP3, CS Policy 13
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.