Lower Homestead Farm, Watton Road, Ashill, Thetford, Norfolk, IP25 7AH

2 self build dwellings

Authority: Breckland Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Dring G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the site is in a suitable location for residential development, having regard to the spatial strategy of the development plan and the accessibility of services and facilities
the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
whether the proposal qualifies as an exemption from biodiversity net gain requirements

What decided it

The cumulative adverse impacts of unsustainable location, harm to rural character, and unresolved biodiversity net gain requirements significantly and demonstrably outweigh the limited benefits of two dwellings when assessed against the Framework as a whole.

The cumulative adverse impacts in terms of unsustainable location, harm to character and appearance, and unmet biodiversity net gain requirements significantly and demonstrably outweigh the cumulative limited benefits of housing delivery, such that the presumption in favour of sustainable development does not apply.

Framework references: 11, 83, 135, 187

Plan policies cited: Policy GEN 01, Policy GEN 02, Policy GEN 03, Policy GEN 05, Policy HOU 02, Policy HOU 03, Policy COM 01, Policy ENV 02, Policy ENV 05

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.