Brookfields Barn, Stratford Road, Bidford-on-Avon, B50 4LU

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• whether the site is reasonably located with regard to access to services and facilities by sustainable modes of transport
• the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area
• whether the development, and the wider area, would be safe from flooding and be suitably drained
• whether the development would provide satisfactory living conditions for its future occupiers with regard to the provision of domestic facilities for day to day living

What decided it

The inability to be satisfied that the site would be safe from flooding and suitably drained, combined with the substantial harm to landscape character, outweighed the benefits of unmet pitch need and personal circumstances.

The unmet gypsy and traveller pitch need, lack of alternative sites, and the appellant's personal/family circumstances were balanced against harm from unsustainable location, landscape harm, flood risk/drainage uncertainty and unauthorised development, with the Inspector concluding the harms outweighed the benefits.