®Planning appeal decision
Land Adjacent To Oakmere Avenue, Withnell, PR6 8AX
Permission in principle application for a minimum of 1 dwelling and a maximum of 5 dwellings
- Authority
- Chorley Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning
- Procedure
- Written
- Development
- residential
- Postcode
- PR6 8AX
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the site is suitable for residential development relating to location, land use and amount of development, with particular regard to whether the development would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt
- the effect of the development on the openness of the Green Belt
- the effect on the character and appearance of the area, including density and efficient use of land
- whether harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm is outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to very special circumstances required to justify the proposal
What decided it
The proposal fails to satisfy criterion (c) of paragraph 155 of the Framework because the site location does not offer sustainable transport solutions or safe and suitable access for all users, and the very special circumstances necessary to justify inappropriate Green Belt development do not exist.
The substantial weight afforded to Green Belt harm (inappropriateness and loss of openness) and harm to location, sustainable transport access and inefficient land use is not outweighed by the limited weight given to housing supply benefits and social/economic benefits, therefore very special circumstances do not exist.
Framework references: 11, 110, 115, 129, 130, 155, 156
Plan policies cited: Policy 1 of the Core Strategy, Policy 5 of the Core Strategy, Policy BNE5 of the Local Plan, Policy 7 of the Central Lancashire Adopted Core Strategy
Judgments cited: Woodcock Holdings Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2015] EWHC 1173 (Admin); New Dawn Homes Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Tewksbury Borough Council [2016] EWHC 3314 (Admin)
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.