Exceptional Circumstances for 250 Homes in AONB Permission Granted by Secretary of State
The Secretary of State has granted permission for 250 homes in the AONB on a green field site on the northern edge of Tetbury. This case involves issues of housing land supply with the Inspector concluding housing requirements set out in an old structure plan were no longer fit for purpose and the requirements of the tested sDRSS for the South West were to be preferred to more up to date but untested locally generated figures in establishing whether a five year supply existed.
As the case involved the AONB the presumption in favour in paragraph 14 did not arise by reference to footnote 9 but that did not mean permission should be refused.
Having regard to paragraph 116 the Inspector considered the effect on the AONB and a nearby listed building. She also considered the need for the development and the costs of and scape of developing elsewhere to meet that need. She also noted that the appeal site was grade 2 agricultural land.
Ultimately in paragraph 14.69 of her report the Inspector concluded not withstanding some detraction from the significance of the LB, some harm to the AONB because of the evidence of the limited scope to provide housing on sites other than in the AONB and the severe shortfall, she considered that exceptional circumstances had been made out and that permission would meet the wider public interest and ought to be granted. The Secretary of State accepted the Inspector’s recommendation.