Key decisions

Mixed development

A proposed mixed-use scheme in south London has been judged not to harm area character, despite being held not to represent exemplary architectural design.

An inspector allowed the proposal for a mixed-use scheme in buildings ranging from two to 16 storeys for student flats as well as employment, community and education use. This was despite acknowledging that the scheme did not represent exemplary architectural design and quality for tall buildings, and that external design review processes had not been followed.

The site contained a warehouse building and ancillary service yard presently used as a conference venue. The inspector noted that there were a number of tall buildings surrounding the site, with other tall building schemes approved or the subject of planning applications nearby. She identified various benefits of the scheme, including the provision of 233 student units, employment creation and provision of development in a highly accessible location to a high level of sustainable design. In her view, these benefits had very significant weight when taken together.

While acknowledging that the proposed development did not represent exemplary design, the inspector found that it was well articulated, with different planes having differing prominence depending on the angle of view. All elements of the proposed development would be articulated further by the juxtaposition of windows, spandrels, lintels and string courses across facades reflecting the necessarily repetitive grid of student rooms, she held.

In the inspector’s view, the proposed development would be suitable for its location and would be positive and appropriate. It would not have a harmful effect on the character and appearance of the area, nor be harmful in respect of any identified specific views, she concluded.

Inspector: Joanna Gilbert; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-527

Comment: The government may be continuing its pursuit of beauty in its latest policy missives, but this case is a reminder that design and architectural issues can be intrinsically subjective, so differences of opinion among decision-makers can frequently arise. This was a case on a major redevelopment scheme in south London that the council had refused partly on area character impact grounds. In making her assessment, the inspector acknowledged that the architecture of the tall buildings in the scheme was not exemplary, but did say it was “good and of high quality”. So she concluded that the proposal was suitable for the location and the quality was sufficient to warrant approval. She also emphasised that design review panels are an important part of design development for such proposals.

Energy development

The landscape impact of proposed wind turbines in Pembrokeshire has been held to outweigh the benefits of the proposal in addressing climate change.

Welsh ministers refused the proposal for three 135-metre wind turbines after assessing the adverse landscape and other impacts, including on the nearby Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The inspector’s report noted that the landscape and visual impact had to be set in the context of a large refinery complex located nearby.

In the inspector’s opinion, while the refinery contained a range of tall structures including chimneys, the view of the bulk of them was confined to a relatively narrow visual space. The turbines, however, would occupy the open countryside in between the refinery and the national park. Rather than consolidate or complement development at the refinery, he held that the development would result in a significant elongation of high-rise structures, which were already highly visually intrusive in the rural landscape.

The inspector identified that the proposal would also have an impact on various heritage assets, including causing substantial harm to the setting and significance of a church and associated listed schoolhouse. Overall, these impacts should be attributed great weight in the overall balance, he recommended.

Judging the benefits of the proposal, the inspector found that this included provision of renewable energy and combatting the effects of climate change. He also found that the scheme would contribute to energy security, in compliance with national and local planning policies. The proposal could power around 9,450 homes per annum, he noted, and would also have various economic benefits, including job creation.

Overall, however, the Welsh ministers agreed with the inspector that the benefits of the scheme, including its contribution to addressing climate change, were not sufficient to outweigh the landscape, visual and heritage harm caused by the proposal.

Inspector: Declan Beggan; Hearing
DCS Number: 200-011-508

Comment: Two cases on major energy infrastructure projects in Wales this month display the varying level of landscape impact that can arise from different types of schemes, and how they subsequently play out in the final planning balance. In this case on a proposed wind farm in west Wales, the proximity of the appeal site to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park meant that landscape impact was a particularly critical issue. The Welsh ministers ultimately accepted the inspector’s conclusion that the scheme would cause a significant increase in visual intrusion inside and outside the national park, to the significant detriment of landscape character. They further found that this was sufficient to override the various benefits of the scheme. By contrast, in a second case (200-011-507), this time regarding a proposed solar farm in Monmouthshire, the balance was tipped the other way. In this case, the scale and nature of the proposal meant that it was assessed not to have more than a modest and localised impact, which was trumped by the acknowledged benefits of the scheme, including assisting the drive towards decarbonisation and realisation of renewable energy.

Latest cases

Community facilities

The benefits of a proposed new prison in the Lancashire green belt have been deemed to outweigh harm if the applicants can address highway safety concerns.

The secretary of state said he was minded to grant permission for the proposal if the highway matters can be overcome, following an inspector’s recommendation that the appeal should be dismissed. The secretary of state invited further evidence on these issues before reaching a final decision on the recovered appeal. If the matters could be addressed, he held that the benefits of the scheme, notably in meeting a need for a modern prison facility in the region, would clearly outweigh harm to the green belt.

He accepted that this harm, arising from inappropriate development, attracted substantial weight. However, he acknowledged that the proposal had various benefits, including economic gains, which attracted significant weight.

Inspector: Tom Gilbert-Wooldridge; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-517

Energy development

The benefits of a solar farm on agricultural land in Monmouthshire have been held to outweigh landscape and other adverse impacts.

Welsh ministers approved the proposal for a 37-megawatt ground-mounted solar farm near Abergavenny after accepting an inspector’s recommendation to approve the scheme. The inspector made the recommendation after assessing landscape, heritage and ecology impacts, as well as the loss of high-quality agricultural land.

The inspector found that the scheme would have a moderate localised effect close to the site and a minor localised impact on the nearby Brecon Beacons National Park. However, the effects would diminish with additional landscaping, the inspector held.

The inspector noted that approximately 32 hectares of the site involved the use of best and most versatile agricultural land, and acknowledged that national planning policy in Wales sought to protect such land from development unless there was an overriding need. In this case, with suitable working practices, the inspector determined that long-term damage to the soil could be avoided.

However, the Welsh ministers disagreed, concluding that the proposed construction and decommissioning details and practices necessary to minimise risk were insufficient and significant harm to soil quality would likely result. In relation to heritage assets and ecology, no significant harm would arise, the inspector found, and the Welsh ministers agreed.

Assessing the benefits of the scheme, the inspector observed that the solar farm would deliver 32 gigawatt hours of electricity per annum – enough to power more than 8,000 dwellings and offsetting in excess of 14,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. The Welsh ministers agreed and ruled that the overall benefits of addressing climate change and securing a renewable source of electricity outweighed the adverse impacts of the proposal.

Inspector: J Tudor; Hearing
DCS Number: 200-011-507

Gypsies and travellers

The personal circumstances of a family have justified a new permanent home in the Cambridgeshire countryside.

An inspector granted permission for the replacement of a Gypsy mobile home on the site with a permanent dwelling, on compassionate grounds. Planning permission had been granted on appeal in 2016 for the residential use of the site by a Gypsy family, involving the siting of two caravans, a utility block and a mobile chalet/medical unit for a disabled person. This decision was later upheld by the courts.

The proposal now sought to replace a mobile home on the site, outside a village boundary, with a permanent single-storey brick dwelling linked to an existing brick-built medical unit. The applicant sought the change to provide a better standard of accommodation to provide the medical and quality-of-life needs of a family member.

The inspector stated that the exceptional and compelling personal circumstances taken into account by the previous inspector continued to apply and this was an instance where compassion in planning decisions was justified. She rejected parish council concerns over setting a precedent, stating that there would be very few cases of such compelling personal circumstances to balance against the protection provided by the development plan. She also declined to attach a personal condition requiring demolition when no longer needed, ruling that this did not pass the test of reasonableness.

Inspector: Diane Lewis; Written representations
DCS Number: 400-038-649

Housing new build

Harm to green belt openness has been deemed to outweigh the benefits of a 600-home scheme in central Scotland.

Scottish ministers dismissed a redetermined appeal for the proposed urban extension on dairy farmland in the green belt. They agreed with the reporter’s conclusions that the proposal would have significant adverse effects on the openness of a very substantial proportion of the green belt. They noted that the green belt was small-scale in this area and that it had an important function in separating neighbouring settlements. It also had a role in protecting key views and local landmarks, including the grade A listed National Wallace Monument, they accepted.

The ministers agreed with the reporter that, taking a worst-case scenario, there was only a 2.88-year effective supply of housing land in the area. However, they concluded that these adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the proposal.

Reporter: David Liddell; Hearing
DCS Number: 200-011-467 

The “many and weighty” benefits of housing proposed in the Essex countryside have contributed to the scheme’s approval.

An inspector approved the proposal for 230 homes at the edge of a town. Following the publication of an updated position statement, the council had been shown not to have a five-year housing land supply. With the completion of a section 106 agreement by the appellant, it therefore chose not to defend its refusal of the scheme at the inquiry, which focused instead on issues raised by interested parties.

The inspector accepted that the appeal site lay outside defined settlement boundaries, in a location contrary to the development plan. However, he nonetheless held it to be an accessible location and ruled that development of the open field would not intrude on a green buffer between the town and a nearby village. In his view, landscape impact would be localised and visually self-contained. The landscape in this location was unremarkable, he observed, and the impact would be no more than would be expected on any site outside of the defined development boundaries.

With a housing supply shortfall in place, the inspector determined that the benefits of the scheme would be “many and weighty”, including the provision of market, affordable and custom-build housing. With only limited harm identified from the scheme, he decided that it could be approved even without engaging the tilted balance.

Inspector: Owen Woodwards; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-487

A proposal for new homes on a vacant golf course in Coventry has been seen to provide an acceptable density of development.

An inspector approved the proposal for 228 homes on the long-term vacant golf course in a residential area of the city. Council officers had recommended approving the scheme, but the council had deferred a decision in light of concerns over issues including density, ecology and access to the site. The appellant subsequently lodged an appeal on the grounds of non-determination.

On the issue of density, the inspector noted that the 174 market dwellings in a mix of sizes, together with a block of 54 one- and two-bedroom affordable retirement units, would constitute a density of 35.9 dwellings per hectare (dph). This, she decided, would be appropriate to the surrounding residential area and accord with a local plan policy expectation of 35dph on previously developed land outside the city ring road.

The inspector found that the proposed site was in an accessible location and site accesses and additional traffic would not harm highway safety nor network capacity. While the site lay within a designated air quality management area, the appellant’s assessments satisfactorily demonstrated that air quality impacts would not be significant, she added.

On ecology, the inspector noted that the six-hectare overgrown site was of significant value as one of the few large areas of unmanaged habitat in the city. However, in light of the appellant's professional assessment of site ecology, which did not record notable wildlife, and subject to mitigation of biodiversity and tree loss, the inspector concluded that the scheme complied with the development plan.

Inspector: Katherine Stephens; Written representations
DCS Number: 400-038-408

The benefits of boosting housing supply have eclipsed harm caused by a proposed greenfield housing scheme in East Sussex.

An inspector granted permission for the 210-home scheme on the edge of a town after finding that the identified harm did not significantly outweigh the benefits of the proposal. The appeal site lay in the countryside, outside the settlement boundary, which the inspector agreed with the council had been logically drawn. The inspector also held that settlement boundaries should be used as a means of directing new development to the most sustainable locations based on a locally defined spatial strategy. Since the scheme fell outside the boundary and conflicted with the spatial strategy, he attached moderate weight to this conflict.

The inspector further held that the appeal scheme would not, overall, provide genuine travel choice in large part due to the poor accessibility of the site by foot or bus. However, he attached only moderate harm to this after concluding that the impact was offset by the ability to cycle, use local rail services and access a car club, at least in the short term.

On landscape impact, the inspector held that the proposal would result in harm to the character and appearance of the area. In his view, the intrinsic character and beauty of the appeal site as a collection of fields of moderate landscape value could not be maintained, contributed to or enhanced by constructing up to 210 homes on it. Nonetheless, the harm to the landscape would be of moderate magnitude, he determined.

Set against these issues, the inspector accepted that the scheme would significantly boost the supply of open-market and affordable dwellings. This factor attracted very significant weight, while other economic and ecological benefits also had moderate weight, he added. Overall, he ruled that the adverse impacts of the appeal scheme would not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits.

Inspector: Graham Chamberlain; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-491

A proposed housing scheme outside an Essex village has been held to be in a sustainable location and therefore in compliance with the development plan.

An inspector approved the scheme for up to 94 homes on farmland outside the village settlement boundary. The inspector decided that the scheme’s sustainable location meant that it accorded with the plan, irrespective of the council’s housing land supply position.

Recently adopted local plan policies restricted development outside of settlement boundaries in order to direct it to sustainable locations, the inspector noted. In this case, the inspector said, the site lay a reasonably short distance away from key services in the village by foot, bicycle or bus. Reasonably convenient and accessible walking links would be provided, albeit involving an uncontrolled road crossing, the report noted. In the inspector’s view, there was little to distinguish the scheme from recent housing developments permitted by the council close to the appeal site that were also located outside the settlement boundary.

The inspector concluded that the proposed development complied with development plan policies seeking to ensure that development was sustainably located. This conclusion was unaffected by the council’s claim that it had a five-year supply of housing land, the report added.

Inspector: A Price; Written representations
DCS Number: 400-038-732

Landscape, visual impact and design concerns have been judged to outweigh the benefits of a housing scheme on a greenfield site in Hampshire.

An inspector dismissed the appeal for 61 homes proposed on a site at the edge of an existing village, after finding conflict with development plan policies. He held that the site would not conform to the local plan’s intended locations for new housing development because it lay outside the defined urban edge and in the countryside. Accordingly, the inspector concluded that it would not be in a suitable location with regard to development plan policy.

The inspector noted that the appeal site was not a valued landscape but was an open area used for horsiculture and lay adjacent to the urban edge. He ruled that there would be limited adverse impact on landscape character and that visual impacts would be of an adverse, localised nature. In his view, the design of the proposed homes reflected the built character of the village but gave insufficient consideration to the countryside aspect of the local context.

When all these impacts were taken together, the inspector concluded that the proposal would have an unacceptable effect on the character and appearance of the area, including design quality, contrary to local plan policy. Harm arising from the scheme would be “very significant”, he judged.

Since the council could not demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, the inspector ruled that the tilted balance in favour of sustainable development was engaged. He noted that the scheme would contribute 61 dwellings to housing provision and mix, and contribute to addressing the moderate shortfall, giving these and other benefits significant weight. However, he determined that they were outweighed by the scheme’s adverse impacts, and dismissed the appeal.

Inspector: Darren Hendley; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-456

The benefits of a housing scheme on a greenfield site in Berkshire have been seen to outweigh conflict with the development plan.

An inspector allowed the appeal for 54 homes, including 19 affordable, at a site on the edge of a town. He noted that the adverse impacts of the proposal included its location outside development limits and undermining the spatial development strategy for the area. However, he added that the council was unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, therefore triggering the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

On landscape impacts, the inspector judged that the scheme had an adverse effect on the character and beauty of the countryside and local area, but decided that the harm was limited. In his view, as a result of its close physical and visual relationship with an existing residential development located opposite the site, the appeal scheme would not materially alter the experience of the gap between the settlement and an adjacent town.

The inspector observed that the scheme’s benefits included the proposed affordable housing that would contribute to meeting identified needs in the borough, and he accorded this significant weight. He also gave moderate weight to the contribution that the appeal scheme would make towards housing land supply. Overall, he concluded that the adverse impacts of granting permission would not significantly outweigh the benefits of the scheme.

Inspector: Ian Jenkins; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-457

The harm caused by the location of proposed new homes outside a settlement boundary has failed to outweigh the scheme’s benefits.

An inspector granted permission for 35 homes on the edge of a village in Gloucestershire, after accepting that the settlement boundary policy was out of date and therefore the location of the proposal attracted only minor harm. The council accepted that its core strategy had been adopted prior to the initial version of the National Planning Policy Framework in 2012 and that a review had not occurred.

The inspector noted that the council had granted various planning permissions for housing development outside of the settlement boundaries in rural areas. These permissions had helped boost the supply of housing and the council relied on them as part of its case in terms of demonstrating a five-year supply of housing sites, he found. In his view, this meant that the settlement boundaries were not capable of delivering the requisite growth according to the core strategy’s housing requirements and must therefore be considered out of date.

In terms of the location of the appeal site, while there were some practical limitations with the local footpaths, future occupants would be able to reach the majority of key services and facilities on foot or by bicycle, the inspector maintained. For those who could not, there were bus services available, he said, and car journeys would be short. As such, he determined that future occupants of the proposed development would have reasonable access to facilities and services.

The proposal would help boost the council’s supply of deliverable housing sites through a mix of market and affordable units, the inspector decided. Of these, 35 per cent would be affordable and would help address a serious and significant shortfall, he accepted, especially with most of the affordable units being social rented. Irrespective of whether the council could demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land, this carried significant weight, the inspector concluded.

Inspector: Andrew McGlone; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-490

A council has been held to have misinterpreted national policy in refusing a scheme for 14 homes without affordable housing provision.

An inspector ruled that a Northamptonshire council misapplied the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in refusing consent for the proposal on the grounds of a lack of affordable housing provision, and made a full award of costs to the appellants. The officer report had recommended that a 15-home threshold for the provision of affordable housing, set out in 2016 core strategy policy, was overridden by a more recent NPPF policy. This had set out the expectation that major development of ten or more homes should provide at least ten per cent for affordable homeownership, the report stated.

However, the inspector disagreed with this conclusion, noting that NPPF paragraph 65 did not introduce a national threshold for affordable housing but aimed to increase the provision of affordable homeownership as part of the overall affordable housing contribution from a site. The inspector found no inconsistency between core strategy policy and the NPPF.

Ruling that misapplying national planning policy when the scheme could otherwise have been approved, had a correct interpretation been applied, constituted unreasonable behaviour, the inspector decided, and a full award of costs to the appellant was therefore justified.

Inspector: A Berry; Written representations
DCS Number: 400-038-643

Housing conversion

A proposed conversion of an office in west London to 50 flats has been deemed to provide occupiers with adequate natural light.

Since the proposal was for prior approval under Class O of the General Permitted Development Order, the council’s objections were limited to whether the scheme met the condition requiring adequate daylight and sunlight. The council argued that because most of the kitchens would not have windows, they would not receive sufficient daylight.

However, the inspector held that the condition on Class O only requires that habitable rooms have sufficient daylight and this did not apply to kitchens used solely for cooking. With regard to daylight levels in habitable rooms, all the rooms would meet the former 2011 standards from advisory body BRE, she found, although nine habitable rooms across eight dwellings would fail to meet the new 2022 BRE standards.

The inspector noted that the update to the BRE standards meant a slight  improvement in the proposal’s performance, although she also noted that just under two thirds still failed to meet these guidelines.

However, she noted that guidance is intended to be used flexibly, particularly where it might inhibit the efficient use of a site. Given the urban location of the proposal and the fact that the scheme met the 2011 guidelines while only falling just short of the 2022 standards, she concluded that occupiers’ living conditions would be adequate.

Inspector: Joanna Bowyer; Written representations
DCS Number: 400-038-810

A proposed office-to-flats conversion in London has been found to breach natural light requirements, following the publication of new guidance.

An inspector dismissed the proposed prior approval scheme for four flats, following the update to the guide on natural light published by advisory body BRE. The site was a vacant office on the first floor of a three-storey building, with a shop below and a residential use above, the inspector observed. Prior approval was sought for the conversion to flats under Class MA of the General Permitted Development Order. However, the council objected to the scheme on the basis of its provision of natural light to all habitable rooms.

According to the inspector, the application for prior approval had been submitted with an application for the insertion and enlargement of windows, which had been granted. Also submitted was an internal daylight assessment, which found adequate provision of natural light in all the proposed flats, although one only marginally passed the required tests.

The inspector noted that subsequent to the submission of the application, BRE updated its 2011 guidance on natural light with a revised 2022 edition. The revision removed the average daylight factor test, which the scheme had passed, and introduced a light distribution test. The internal light distribution in the living room/kitchen and bedroom of one of the flats would have been poor, the inspector found, so the scheme failed the assessment. Since the scheme did not meet the most up-to-date guidance, the appeal was dismissed.

Inspector: L Wilson: Written representations
DCS Number: 400-038-591

Minerals development

The impacts of a proposal in Devon for sand and gravel extraction and processing of materials have been judged acceptable.

A panel of two inspectors approved the proposals to extract 1.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel from 25 hectares of farmland, together with the processing of materials at a quarry 37 kilometres away. The minerals plan allocated the farm for sand and gravel extraction but did not make provision for processing to take place at the site because of space constraints. In the absence of any closer alternative processing site, the inspectors maintained that there would be no unacceptable harm to sustainability from transportation. This was subject to a condition securing the appellants’ suggested use of hydrotreated vegetable oil as fuel for all of the HGVs.

The inspectors also concluded that the proposals satisfied policy requirements for the allocation, and therefore that the impact on a range of issues was acceptable. This included water supplies and human health, drainage and flood risk, trees, hedgerows and ecology and highway safety. Less than substantial harm to a grade I listed former farmhouse, arising from changes to the acidity and flow of water to medieval fishponds, was assessed by the inspectors to be outweighed by the public benefit of a contribution to the supply of sand and gravel in Devon. They noted that this was in the context of a shortfall in the seven-year landbank of sand and gravel required by the National Planning Policy Framework, and the temporary 10-year working life of the quarry, after which the setting would be restored.

Inspectors: Nick Palmer, Rachael Bust; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-485

Mixed development

Harm to the green belt and design shortcomings have scuppered a proposed housing and mixed-use scheme in Buckinghamshire.

The appellants proposed a residential scheme including a community building and school, on a 24-hectare green belt site. There was agreement between the parties that the proposal would be inappropriate development in the green belt, with the inspector finding that there would be loss of openness in spatial and visual terms. He said the purpose of checking the unrestricted sprawl of a large built-up area would be undermined to a limited extent and there would be conflict with the role of safeguarding the countryside from encroachment.

The inspector found that the visual envelope of the appeal site was generally limited to short-distance views and that, in principle, residential development could be accommodated without significant adverse landscape and visual impacts. On design issues, he observed a number of positive attributes including the provision of green infrastructure, mixed character areas, permeability and sustainable access to key facilities. However, as a whole, he held that the design vision failed to understand the defining characteristics and special qualities of the area and would not add to its overall quality. Established habitats would become fragmented and also compromised by recreational activity, he held.

In relation to the planning balance, the inspector noted that there was a significant shortfall in the five-year housing land supply. However, he concluded that the harm to the green belt by reason of inappropriateness, and a combination of landscape impacts, design and habitat issues, would not be clearly outweighed by the benefits of the proposal. Very special circumstances were therefore not demonstrated justifying the scheme, he ruled.

Inspector: David Rose; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-458

A proposed compulsory purchase order (CPO) for a Berkshire shopping centre has been rejected due to harmful consequences for the owners of a nightclub at the site.

An inspector refused to grant the council’s request to acquire freeholds and leases relating to the shopping facility in the town centre. The council argued that the centre in its existing form offered an uninteresting and sterile environment, with no sense of place and little to attract customers to spend time there. It also maintained that, externally, the shopping centre provided unattractive blank facades that turned their back on the surrounding streets and neighbouring properties.

In March 2021, the council resolved to grant planning permission for a comprehensive mixed-use redevelopment of the site. The CPO required the council to secure interest in the entire site, including the nightclub, to enable the redevelopment to proceed. The inspector noted that the nightclub operated under a lease and that no satisfactory alternative premises into which it could relocate had been found.

The inspector determined that the most likely outcome was that the club would not reopen and the business would cease trading. For the two objectors involved in the business, this would mean the loss of their employment and income, according to the inspector, losing the business that had been the focus of their family life for two generations. This would have potential adverse consequences for their well-being and that of their families, including children, he added.

While financial compensation would be paid, given the particular circumstances of their business, there was no guarantee that this would leave them on an equal footing to their current position, the inspector decided. In his view, the potential injury to them had been exacerbated by the unsatisfactory way in which they had been treated during the gestation of the proposed development and throughout the CPO process.

Despite the proposed development’s acknowledged public benefits, it had not been demonstrated that the benefits of the scheme could not equally be gained without the likely need for the nightclub to close, the inspector concluded.

Inspector: John Felgate; Inquiry
DCS Number: 200-011-509

Waste development

The harm caused by the proposed expansion of a hazardous waste site has been held to be outweighed by the need for the proposal.

The secretary of state granted a development consent order for the proposal at an existing hazardous waste facility in Northamptonshire. The order proposed to expand the area of the site, increase the volume of waste that it could handle and extend its operation until 2046. The proposed development was a western extension of the existing facility granted consent in 2013, and a further consent in 2018, the latter of which required the operations to cease and the site to be fully restored by the end of 2026.

The secretary of state maintained that the harm caused by the proposed development would be clearly outweighed by the need for national hazardous waste infrastructure as identified in the National Policy Statement for Hazardous Waste (June 2013). He also identified other benefits of the project, including its location, the use of existing infrastructure and the benefits following restoration of the site.

According to the secretary of state, the main harm caused by the proposal would be on the landscape character of the northern part of the western extension of the existing site. He noted that current operations at the site had not given rise to complaints relating to noise, vibration, dust, odour nor light nuisance, but there had been some complaints about mud on the road, albeit not recently. All these matters would be controlled through requirements in the draft order, he concluded.

Examiner: Simon Warder; Hearing
DCS Number: 200-011-530