®Planning appeal decision
Land Fir Trees Place, Turners Hill Road, Crawley Down, West Sussex, RH10 4HQ
Planning appeal 3376721 at Land Fir Trees Place, Turners Hill Road, Crawley Down, West Sussex, RH10 4HQ (Mid Sussex District Council) was allowed in part (a split decision) on 6 July 2026 by Inspector Freer P, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: the effect, if any, on the character and appearance of the area.
(a) without planning permission, the material change of the Land to a mixed use comprising agriculture and stationing of caravans and their residential use (b) without planning permission, the carrying out of works to form hardstanding and a service trench
- Authority
- Mid Sussex District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- caravan-gypsy · Major traveller and caravan pitches
- Inspector
- Freer P
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect, if any, on the character and appearance of the area
- whether the appeal site is a suitable location the development
- whether the development would have an adverse effect on protected species and their habitats
- whether the measures for disposal of foul and surface water at the site are, or could be made to be, adequate
What decided it
The combination of unmitigable harm to protected species and habitats and inadequate foul/surface water drainage arrangements, which could not lawfully be addressed through conditions within the scope of a ground (a) appeal, decisively outweighed the private benefits to the appellant and other occupiers.
the adverse impacts of granting planning permission (harm to landscape character, unsuitable location, harm to protected species, and inadequate drainage) significantly and demonstrably outweighed the largely private benefits under the paragraph 11(d) balance
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy DP12Policy DP26Policy DP33Policy DP38Policy DP41Policy DP42Policy CDNP05Policy CDNP06Policy CDNP08Policy CDNP09Policy CDNP10
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 187Paragraph 110Paragraph 115Paragraph 117Paragraph 193Paragraph 11
- Judgments
- Bhandal v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government & Bromsgrove District Council [2020] EWHC 2724 (Admin); SSCLG v Ioannou [2015] 1 P&CR 10; Chapman v UK 33 EHCR; Bank Mellat v HM Treasury (No 2) [2013] UKSC 38
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 appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Mid Sussex
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026
- Dismissed10 September 20266011079Moonshine Meadow, Cuckfield Road, Ansty, RH17 5AL
- Dismissed30 April 20266002774Rocklands, Church Lane, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6UP
- Dismissed30 March 20266002280Floran Farm, Hophurst Hill, Crawley Down, West Sussex, RH10 4LP
- Allowed16 September 20253363187Land Adjacent to Hilgay Cottage , Birchwood Grove, Burgess Hill, West Sussex
- Allowed20 August 20253366246Firs Farm, Copthorne Common, Copthorne, West Sussex, RH10 3LF
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.