31 Syke Lane, Lightcliffe, Brighouse, HX3 8SY

change of use of land to garden (retrospective), installation of post and rail fence, engineering and regrading works and retention of building for the storage of equipment for the maintenance of the land

Authority: Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Other minor developments
Inspector: Spataru A
Postcode: HX3 8SY

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt for the purposes of the National Planning Policy Framework and the development plan policy, including the effect on openness
The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, including the Thornton/Queensbury Landscape Character Area
If the development would be inappropriate, whether the harm to the Green Belt by way of inappropriateness and any other harm would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify it

What decided it

The proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt that would harm openness and conflict with the purposes of Green Belt designation, and this harm is not clearly outweighed by other considerations to establish very special circumstances.

Framework references: 149, 153, 154

Plan policies cited: Policy GB1, Policy HS1, Policy BT1, Policy BT2, Policy GN4

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.