Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Dismissed14 April 20266002368

The Bell, 4, Town Lane, Benington, Hertfordshire, SG2 7LA

Planning appeal 6002368 at The Bell, 4, Town Lane, Benington, Hertfordshire, SG2 7LA (East Hertfordshire District Council) was dismissed on 14 April 2026 by Inspector Bowyer J, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether or not the proposal would result in an unacceptable loss of a community facility (Appeal A only).

change of use of a public house (sui generis) to a single dwellinghouse (C3)

Authority
East Hertfordshire District Council
Appeal type
minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Hearing
Development
residential · Change of use
Inspector
Bowyer J
Postcode
SG2 7LA

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • whether or not the proposal would result in an unacceptable loss of a community facility (Appeal A only)
  • the effect of the proposal on the special interest and significance of the Grade II* listed building, 'The Bell Public House' (Appeals A and B)
  • the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the Benington Conservation Area (Appeals A and B)

What decided it

The cumulative harm from the unacceptable loss of a community facility and the less than substantial harm to the listed building and conservation area outweighed the limited public benefits of the proposal.

The limited public benefits of the proposal (housing contribution, economic/social benefits, potential landscaping enhancement) were insufficient to outweigh the less than substantial harm to the listed building and conservation area or the unacceptable loss of a community facility, so the balance tipped against the proposal.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy CFLR8Policy HA1Policy HA4Policy HA7
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 11
Judgments
R (Cherkley Campaign Ltd) v Mole Valley DC [2014] EWCA Civ 567; R (Coulthard and another) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2025] EWCA Civ 1671

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 applied

The 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.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

18 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision
An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter
Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.
Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app
Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.
Start your free trial

More decisions in East Hertfordshire District Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026

  1. Allowed28 October 20266008487
    The Ranch House, Amwell Hill, Great Amwell, Ware, SG12 9QZ
  2. Allowed23 October 20266006221
    Land Off Chapel Lane, Little Hadham, SG11 2AB
  3. Dismissed19 October 20266009679
    Land to the West of Ginns Road, Ginns Road, Stocking Pelham, SG9 0JD
  4. Dismissed15 October 20266010602
    Duck Street Cottage, The Street, Furneux Pelham, SG9 0LA
  5. Dismissed15 October 20266005090
    Hare Street House, Hare Street Buntinford, SG9 0DY

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.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.