Old School House, Ashford Hill Road, Ashford Hill, RG19 8BB

outline permission with all matters reserved for 1 No dwelling

Authority: Basingstoke and Deane
Appeal type: minor · Planning
Procedure: Written
Development: residential
Postcode: RG19 8BB

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the biodiversity gain condition as set out at Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021) is capable of being successfully discharged
The effect of the development on the character and appearance of the existing site and the area

What decided it

The proposal fails to demonstrate that the biodiversity gain condition is capable of being successfully discharged, as it does not quantify the site's existing biodiversity value or proposed ecological enhancement to show a 10% increase would be achieved.

The benefit of providing one new home and supporting housing land supply does not outweigh the conflict with the mandatory requirements of Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 regarding biodiversity net gain.

Plan policies cited: Policy EM1, Policy EM10, Policy HD3

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.