A decision to throw out controversial plans for 17 new homes in a north Shropshire village has been overturned following a planning appeal.
Shropshire Council’s reason for refusing to permit the development off Chapel Lane, in Norton-in-Hales, was ‘evidently vague’ according to Planning Inspector Jonathan Manning.
He allowed the appeal and awarded costs to applicant Peter Eardley, saying the council refused a development which ‘should clearly have been permitted’.
Mr Eardley’s solicitor, Suzanne Tucker, an Associate with FBC Manby Bowdler’s planning team, said her client was keen to develop a housing scheme which offered the opportunity for young families to stay in the village and so a number of smaller houses are included in the design.
She said: “The Planning Inspector considered the main issues of the appeal to be the effect on the local roads and whether the site was a suitable location for new housing, having regard to national and local planning policies relating to new housing in rural areas, including Shropshire Council’s emerging Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan.
“He found that highway improvements as part of the appeal would be a benefit to the scheme and that even though the homes would be outside the development boundary for the village, the proposal fulfils the roles of sustainable development as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.”
The Inspector’s report also found that the council’s appeal evidence on highway matters was not supported by ‘any objective analysis’.
The decision may give developers in the county renewed hope of securing permission for similar schemes despite a recent landmark ruling.
Miss Tucker said: “Last month a Judicial Review found that national economic policy could not override a local authority’s own development framework, but the new decision makes clear that national planning policy still has to be taken into account. This may make it more difficult for authorities such as Shropshire Council to rely solely on their local plan in decision making.
“The decision does present a glimmer of hope for developers against a general sense that the adoption of SAMDev might close the doors on speculative development for a while.”
Shropshire Council had argued that it could demonstrate it had identified enough housing land supply in the county, which was disputed by Mr Eardley’s legal team.
However the Inspector’s report said: “Even if I were to take the view that the Council could demonstrate a five year housing land supply, this does not in itself rule out sustainable residential development. It is evident that the underlying principles behind the above policies are to secure a sustainable pattern of development and to ensure that the countryside and its character are protected.”
The Inspector also found that the proposal would deliver social and economic benefits through the delivery of new housing and would maintain and enhance the vitality of Norton in Hales; would not cause harm to highway or pedestrian safety and that the homes would not harm the character of the surrounding countryside.
The SAMDev is the Shropshire Council Site Allocations and Management of Development (SAMDev) Plan which sets out how the county should develop over the decade, to 2026, setting out which land should be zoned for various uses.
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