Land at Royal Oak, Thetford Road, Ixworth Thorpe, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP311QW

permission in principle for a detached self-build or custom build dwelling

Authority: West Suffolk
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Whitfield H

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the site is suitable for residential development, having regard to its location, land use and the amount of development proposed, with particular regard to relevant development plan policies for development in the countryside and the site's accessibility to services and facilities

What decided it

The site's poor connectivity by sustainable travel modes and failure to meet the locational and accessibility criteria of Policy SP21 for countryside dwellings, combined with the limited contribution of a single dwelling to the self-build housing shortfall, means the proposal conflicts with the development plan and material considerations do not indicate a decision should be made otherwise.

The benefits of housing delivery, self-build housing provision, and effective use of previously developed land were outweighed by the conflict with development plan policies on countryside development and sustainable accessibility, with the scale of the development (one dwelling) limiting the weight of the benefits.

Framework references: 84, 70, 11

Plan policies cited: Policy SP21, Policy SP12, Policy SP13, Policy SP20, Policy IXW1

Judgments cited: Braintree DC v SSCLG, Greyread Ltd & Granville Developments Ltd [2018] EWCA Civ 610

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.