Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Dismissed9 April 20266003006

Land to the North of New Road, Lower Shiplake, RG9 3LB

Planning appeal 6003006 at Land to the North of New Road, Lower Shiplake, RG9 3LB (South Oxfordshire District Council) was dismissed on 9 April 2026 by Inspector Stephens K, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the appeal site would be a suitable location for housing with regard to local and national policies.

erection of 25 dwellings with associated accesses, works to New Road, landscaping and parking

Authority
South Oxfordshire District Council
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Hearing
Development
residential · Major dwellings
Inspector
Stephens K
Postcode
RG9 3LB

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • Whether the appeal site would be a suitable location for housing with regard to local and national policies
  • Whether the site is in an accessible location in relation to transport and infrastructure
  • The effect of the proposal on the rural character of the area

What decided it

The cumulative harms — particularly the significant weight given to the unsuitability of the site for transport and infrastructure — were found to significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits under the tilted balance.

the benefits of housing delivery, affordable housing, BNG, economic and highway benefits were outweighed by the harms to the Council's spatial strategy (limited weight), transport and infrastructure suitability (significant weight) and rural character (moderate weight), such that the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits under the paragraph 11(d) tilted balance

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy STRAT1Policy H1Policy H8Policy H16Policy TRANS5Policy DES2SNP Policy SV1SNP Policy SV2SNP Policy SV7
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 11Paragraph 14
Judgments
Julian Wood v SSCLG and Gravesham Borough Council [2015] EWCA Civ 195

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

29 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 South Oxfordshire

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

  1. Dismissed29 October 20266013107
    Charleston, Bolney Road, Lower Shiplake, RG9 3NS
  2. Dismissed29 October 20266005561
    4 Spring Path, Thame, OX9 2EF
  3. Allowed26 October 20266011152
    Luffield House, 85A Wallingford Road, Goring, RG8 0HL
  4. Dismissed7 October 20266007830
    Land off Wyfold Lane, Peppard Common, RG9 5LR
  5. Allowed7 October 20266005521
    Land Rear of The Paddocks, Lower Icknield Way, Chinnor, OX39 4GR

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.