Out-Law News 2 min. read

Communities secretary blocks 146-home development within Cotswold Area of Outstanding Beauty


Secretary of state for communities and local government (SoS) Eric Pickles has refused an appeal that would have permitted the construction of up to 146 homes on farmland in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

A planning expert has said the decision reflects the need for councils to release small sites for development in order to meet local housing needs without unacceptable environmental impacts.

Housebuilder Bovis Homes (BH) applied to Cotswold District Council in April 2013, seeking outline planning permission to build up to 146 on two sloping arable fields at the eastern boundary of the town of Stow-on-the-Wold (Stow). The Council failed to decide the application within the relevant determination period and BH's subsequent appeal was recovered for determination by the SoS.

Following public hearings last year, planning inspector Ian Jenkins recommended that the appeal be rejected and permission refused for the scheme. A decision letter (110-page / 1.2 MB PDF) on behalf of the SoS said Pickles agreed with the inspector's recommendation.

The SoS decided that the appeal scheme constituted major development within an AONB, noting  that, according to the National Planning Policy Framework "planning permission should be refused for major development in the AONB except in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated that they are in the public interest".

The SoS agreed with the inspector that a local housing policy seeking to restrict housing development outside development boundaries was out-of-date in light of the Council's inability to demonstrate a five year supply of deliverable land for housing development. He said that the contribution of the scheme to the local housing shortage, including up to 73 affordable homes, carried "substantial weight in favour of the scheme". He also found that there would be "some environmental and recreational opportunity benefits".

The letter said the SoS agreed with the inspector that any positive effect on the local economy due to the creation of construction jobs would be temporary and the scheme was likely to have an adverse effect on the area's ability to attract tourists and cause congestion in Stow town centre.

The SoS attached "great weight to the harm which the scheme would cause to the AONB". He considered that the appeal site was "highly sensitive", that the visual effect of the scheme would be "high, permanent and adverse", and that there was scope for meeting Stow's housing requirements through smaller-scale alternatives with "the potential to cause less harm to the character and appearance of the AONB and the setting of Stow".

Overall, the SoS concluded that "the benefits of the proposal would be far outweighed by the environmental harm that it would cause". He said the exceptional circumstances necessary to justify the development did not exist and allowing the scheme would not be in the public interest.

Planning expert Helen Stewart of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: “This case serves as a reminder of the balance which needs to be sensitively struck between addressing the under-supply of housing in the UK, whilst protecting our landscape." 

"It also underlines the growing pressure on authorities to release a greater number of smaller sites as opposed to focusing purely on a smaller number of larger sites. Whilst benefitting from economies of scale, larger sites by necessity can take several years to develop out, making it essential for local authorities also to identify smaller sites in their local plans which will be deliverable more speedily."

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.