Cotters Hill Farm, Bug Hill, Woldingham, CR3 7LB

erection of single storey office building (Class E)

Authority: Tandridge District Council
Appeal type: Planning
Procedure: Written
Development: employment-industrial
Postcode: CR3 7LB

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework 2024 and any relevant development plan policies
The effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
The effect of the proposed development on biodiversity
Whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The substantial harm to the Green Belt through inappropriateness and loss of openness, combined with unacceptable biodiversity effects and modest benefits that do not clearly outweigh the harm, means very special circumstances do not exist to justify the development.

The substantial harm to the Green Belt and other harms were not clearly outweighed by the modest economic and social benefits, so the balance did not favour the development.

Framework references: 154

Plan policies cited: Policy DP10, Policy DP13, Policy CP22

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.