As the site was contained on all sides by more recent development, the inspector was satisfied that the scheme would not harm the area’s appearance or character. The council’s demonstrable five-year land supply should not be regarded as a ceiling and the site was close to services and facilities, he remarked. In his view, however, the overriding issue was a strategic policy reference, supported in the NPPF, to preventing the use of greenfield sites in favour of bringing forward more difficult to deliver brownfield land. This conflict was sufficient to justify refusal on its own, he held.
Inspector: M Savage; Written representations
