Land at Bowersbury Farm, Bower Heath Lane, Harpenden, AL5 5FJ

erection of 3 detached dwellings

Authority: St Albans City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Shearing C

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The suitability of the site's location for the proposal, having regard to whether it would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt

What decided it

The site qualifies as previously developed land and the proposal would not cause substantial harm to the openness of the Green Belt, bringing it within the exception at NPPF paragraph 154g), and the Council's lack of five-year housing land supply engaged the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

The conflict with the development plan was outweighed by the material considerations of the Framework, particularly the exception to inappropriate Green Belt development and the presumption in favour of sustainable development arising from the lack of five-year housing land supply.

Framework references: 154, 155, 11

Plan policies cited: Policy 1 of the District Local Plan Review 1994, Policy W1 of the Wheathampstead Neighbourhood Plan

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.