Permission for 280 homes on Cheshire greenbelt is refused by Secretary of State

The appeal, by developers Fox Land and Property, was against the decision of Cheshire East Council to refuse permission last year.

The developers applied for outline planning permission to build up to 280 dwellings, and for landscaping, open space, highway and associated works.

Pickles decided the case himself rather than delegating it to one of his Planning Inspectors under a process called ‘recovered jurisdiction’ because of the size of the project and its impact on the Government's objectives to secure a better balance between housing demand and supply.
 
The Secretary of State's letter acknowledged that the application accorded with the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), as maintained by a previous decision involving Cala Homes.

Pickles said, though, that the application must be weighed in the planning balance with the development plan policies, with regard to "settlement boundaries, the restriction on development in the countryside, and the loss of best and most versatile land unless absolutely unavoidable," according to the letter.

"96% of the appeal site is Best and Most Versatile (BMV) land and is a material consideration which weighs against the appeal proposal," said the letter.

Limited weight was given to the  National Planning Policy Framework because it is only in draft form. Pickles, though, gave considerable weight to the fact the council was unable to demonstrate an up-to-date supply of deliverable housing and across Cheshire East and that there was not a five year land supply.

The letter considered the contribution to housing supply as a material consideration in favour of the appeal but said the fact that the site was in greenbelt could delay the building of 723 dwellings in previously developed land (PDL).

The letter said that greenfield development could result in the delay of PDL development, "denying Sandbach the associated regenerative and sustainability benefits that flow from the re-use of urban land".

"Prospective developers of the PDL sites might consider that Sandbach’s modest housing market could not immediately absorb a further influx of houses," he said.

In his overall conclusion Pickles found that "the scales are tipped against the proposal in terms of its overall conformity with the development plan".

Pickles said that allowing the development would have pre-empted decisions on revised settlement before they can be settled in a statutory planning context.