Appeal win for residential development of 3 dwellings in North Chailey, East Sussex

Plainview Planning have secured a planning appeal win for the development of three residential homes outside the settlement boundary in North Chailey, East Sussex.

Planning history:

Our planning consultants had a long term involvement with the scheme, originally submitting a proposal for seven homes on the site, which was within the extensive domestic garden of an existing residential dwelling.
Whilst the principle of development had been accepted through this earlier application, it was refused on matters relating to access, ecology, character and appearance.

A revised scheme:

The subsequent planning application sought permission for 3 homes on a reduced site. The revised scheme addressed the council’s previous concerns in full.  The application was made on the basis that:

• an emerging allocation for new homes in North Chailey could not be met with the existing site boundary;
• we provided robust evidence to justify how the site was sustainable;
• there is an evidenced housing need within Lewes District;
• the nature of the site, a large domestic garden, meant that there was extensive mature vegetation and screening. Development would not result in harm to the character and appearance of the area or the biodiversity;
• whilst the site was outside the local plan settlement boundary for North Chailey, it was within a continuous run of ribbon development between two settlements.

The Council raised no objection to the location of the development and agreed that their previous concerns had been overcome. However, they refused the scheme as they could now demonstrate a 5 year housing land supply (5YHLS), and therefore the location outside of the settlement boundary was contrary to local policy.
We took the case to appeal.

Appeal allowed:

In allowing the appeal, the Inspector referenced the findings of the examination into the Joint Core Strategy (JCS), between Lewes District Council and the South Downs National Park, which had recently been found sound and will soon be adopted.
The examination identified that whilst the JCS can demonstrate a 5YHLS, it is “only just able” to do so and there is “very little flexibility.”
The inspector also noted that the housing allocation for North Chailey could not be met within the existing settlement boundary, which was too tightly drawn to accommodate the agreed level of additional housing. Therefore the settlement boundary in the Local Plan was deemed “out of date.”
It was decided that the very tight housing land supply position was a factor in favour of the appeal and that permission for just 3 homes would not undermine or prejudice future plan making but rather would enable an early contribution towards pressing housing need.
As a result the proposed development was accepted as a sustainable form of development and in this instance, there were sufficient material considerations to outweigh Local Plan policy.
The appeal was allowed and planning permission approved.

About us:

Plainview Planning is an independent town and country planning consultancy who offer expert planning consultancy support on new build schemes.  From single self-build dwellings to housing developments, our planning consultants bring their knowledge, keen eye and fresh perspective to new build and developer schemes.
If you would like to learn more, please contact us via enquiries@plainview.co.uk or on 01242 501003.