Inspector dismisses appeal for 165 homes in Tiptree despite substantial housing land supply shortfall

In a decision letter issued last Friday (8 May), an Inspector dismissed an appeal by Bloor Homes after Colchester City Council refused planning permission for 165 homes on the outskirts of Tiptree.

The Inspector found that the Council had a substantial housing land supply shortfall (2.85 years) but still concluded that the appeal should be dismissed because of the harm to the spatial strategy for the area and the potential for coalescence between Tiptree and Tiptree Heath. In so concluding, the Inspector found that paragraph 14 of the NPPF was engaged in relation to the Tiptree Neighbourhood Plan, which carried particular importance in the overall planning balance given paragraph 11(d)(ii) was also in play.

The decision letter is of wider interest because in finding that paragraph 14 of the NPPF was engaged, the Inspector rejected the developer’s argument that the neighbourhood plan failed to meet its identified housing requirement (per paragraph 14(b)), on the basis it provided for fewer homes than under the current standard method calculation. This is an argument that has arisen in a number of appeals concerning paragraph 14.

Matthew Henderson appeared for Colchester City Council at the inquiry.