The Old Milking Parlour, Worth Farm, Wells Road, Wells, BA5 1LW

Planning appeal 6006897 at The Old Milking Parlour, Worth Farm, Wells Road, Wells, BA5 1LW (Somerset Council) was dismissed on 17 June 2026 by Inspector Felicity Webber, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the proposed change of use would have an effect on the integrity of the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site.

change of use from holiday let to residential dwelling

Authority: Somerset Council
Appeal type: Planning
Procedure: Written
Development: residential
Inspector: Felicity Webber
Postcode: BA5 1LW

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposed change of use would have an effect on the integrity of the Somerset Levels and Moors Ramsar site

What decided it

The absence of a secured Nutrient Neutrality Assessment and Mitigation Strategy demonstrating that the proposal would not compromise the integrity of the Habitat Sites through increased phosphate discharge meant the competent authority could not be satisfied that the proposal would not adversely affect the protected site.

The harm to the integrity of the Habitat Sites and conflict with the development plan attracted substantial weight and could not be outweighed by other material considerations, particularly as the Framework policies protecting habitat sites provide a strong reason for refusal and the proposal does not benefit from the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies: Policy 5Policy 8
National Planning Policy Framework: Paragraph 182Paragraph 195Paragraph 11

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

6 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision

An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter — Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.

Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app — Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.

Start your free trial

More decisions in Somerset Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026

Allowed23 October 20266009164
Land off Wild Oak Lane, Trull, Taunton, TA1 4QT
Dismissed22 October 20266003449
Land Between North Road & Harvest Lane, Charlton Horethorne, DT9 4NS
Dismissed21 October 20266003728
1 Church Farm Cottages, Church Road, Minehead, TA24 5JR
Allowed15 October 20266003863
Land at Crane Cottages, Cooks Lane, Cranmore, BA4 4QJ
Dismissed14 October 20266012027
4 High Green, Easton, Wells, BA5 1EG

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.