®Planning appeal decision
Land at Tongham Services, A31 / A331, Tongham, GU10 1FP
the erection of a freestanding McDonald's Restaurant with drive thru facility, car parking, landscaping and associated works, including Customer Order Displays (COD) and a play frame
- Authority
- Guildford Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- leisure-sport · Major retail and services
- Inspector
- Rawle S
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether or not the proposal would represent an appropriate location within the countryside with particular regard to the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area and whether or not it would lead to a greater physical or visual coalescence between the Ash and Tongham urban area and Aldershot
- Whether or not sufficient information has been provided to assess the impact of the proposed development on protected species and habitats and whether or not the proposal would unacceptably harm the Tongham Pond and Tice's Meadow Site of Nature Conservation Importance or be at odds with the objectives of the Blackwater River Biodiversity Opportunity Area
What decided it
The proposal's unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the countryside and the resulting greater physical coalescence between the Ash and Tongham urban area and Aldershot, to which substantial weight was given.
The moderate weight afforded to the totality of the scheme's benefits was outweighed by the substantial weight given to the harm to character, appearance and coalescence, so the proposal conflicted with the development plan as a whole and the appeal was dismissed.
Plan policies cited: Policy P3 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan: strategy and sites 2015-2034, Policy ID4 of the GBLPSS, Policy 10 of the Guildford Borough Local Plan Development Management Policies, Policy P6 of the GBLPDMP, Policy P7 of the GBLPDMP
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.