Land Adjacent The Mill House, Albury Road, Little Hadham, SG11 2DQ

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, including with regard to the effect of the proposal on trees
• the effect of the proposal on the significance of heritage assets
• whether or not the development would be in a suitable location having regard to flood risk
• the effect of the proposal on biodiversity
• whether or not there would be adequate provision for biodiversity net gain

What decided it

The proposal would cause harm to the significance of the Little Hadham Conservation Area that would not be outweighed by public benefits, and would fail to demonstrate safe access and escape routes in a flood risk area, together with unacceptable harm to character and appearance.

The limited public benefits of housing delivery and economic/social benefits were insufficient to outweigh the less than substantial harm to the Conservation Area (which attracted considerable weight), the limited harm to listed buildings (which was outweighed by benefits), the unacceptable harm to character and appearance, and the failure to demonstrate safety from flood risk.