Beaumont Hall Lane, Redbourn Road, Redbourn, AL3 6RN

change of use of agricultural building to office (Use Class E(g)) and associated storage and distribution yard (Use Class B(8))

Authority: St Albans City Council
Appeal type: Planning
Procedure: Written
Development: employment-industrial
Postcode: AL3 6RN

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt
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 storage and distribution yard would cause an enduring loss of openness in both spatial and visual terms, and the site's location would necessitate car travel with no genuine choice of transport modes, failing to meet the sustainability requirements of paragraph 155 of the Framework, such that very special circumstances do not exist to justify the inappropriate development.

Framework references: 11, 89, 110, 115, 143, 154, 155

Plan policies cited: Policy 1 of the City and District of St Albans District Local Plan Review Adopted 30 November 1994, Policy RED2 of the Redbourn Neighbourhood Plan 2020-38, emerging Policy LG5 of the draft Local Plan 2041, emerging policy SP5 of the draft Local Plan 2041

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.