Derbyshire housing plan refusal overturned at appeal

The decision to turn down permission to build a new housing development at Hartshorne, Swadlincote has been overturned.

DPDS have secured outline planning consent on appeal for the construction of around 14 houses on land outside the built framework of Hartshorne after successfully arguing that the site would represent a “rural exception” site.

The site lies outside the village of Hartshorne in the open countryside where there is a presumption against new market housing.

The planning application was refused by South Derbyshire District Council on the grounds that the site was not in compliance with the criteria set out within the Affordable Housing Policy of the South Derbyshire Adopted Local Plan, Part 1 in that it was not strictly a rural exception site and that the proposed development would harm the character of the area and have an adverse impact on adjacent countryside.

DPDS put forward evidence to demonstrate that Hartshorne is a priority area for housing and located within a sub-area with high demand for affordable housing. On this basis, it was argued that the development of the site for affordable and market housing would assist in meeting this need. The illustrative masterplan for the site also included for the provision of some bungalow accommodation to further demonstrate how the site could meet local need and provide a housing typology which is seldom provided in new developments.

The inspector agreed with DPDS’s view that the site does not play an important role visually in forming the edge of the village or contribution to a gap which would prevent coalescence.

Visually the inspector concluded that the development would not be harmful to the street scene or out of place in the landscape when viewed from the adjacent countryside.

The site is now being marketed for sale.

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