Land off The Chase, Straight Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 9BU

Erection of 1 no. dwelling

Authority: Colchester Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Phillips A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the surrounding area
The effect of the use of the proposed access on the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers using The Chase and Straight Road; as well as the impact of noise and disturbance on neighbouring properties from traffic movements

What decided it

The significant and unacceptable impact on highway safety from vehicles being forced to reverse onto the heavily trafficked Straight Road outweighs the limited housing and economic benefits of the single dwelling.

The significant harm to highway safety significantly and demonstrably outweighs the limited benefits of housing delivery, economic benefits and Council Tax revenue when assessed against the policies of the Framework taken as a whole.

Framework references: 78, 11

Plan policies cited: Policy SP7 of Colchester Borough Local Plan 2013-2033 Section 1 2021, Policy DM15 of Local Plan 2017-2033 Section 2 2022, Policy DM21 of Local Plan Section 2

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.