Land Adjacent to Hampden Farm Barn, Greenlands Lane, Prestwood, HP16 9QX

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• Whether the proposal is inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies
• The effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
• The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, having regard to its location within the Chilterns National Landscape
• The effect of the proposal on the setting of heritage assets
• 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 necessary to justify the proposal

What decided it

The proposal's failure to secure the publicly accessible green-space contribution required by the Golden Rules in Framework Policy GB8 meant it could not benefit from the Grey Belt exception, and the resulting Green Belt and other harm was not clearly outweighed by the benefits so as to amount to very special circumstances.

the benefits, including housing delivery, affordable housing, land reuse, connectivity, biodiversity net gain and socio-economic activity, weighed substantially in favour of the proposal but did not clearly outweigh the Green Belt, National Landscape and heritage harm identified, so very special circumstances were not demonstrated