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After an inquiry in September, a planning inspector has allowed an appeal and granted planning permission for 47 new homes on the edge of Billericay. The site had been proposed for release from the Green Belt and for allocation for housing in Basildon’s recently withdrawn local plan. The inspector decided that the proposal would be “not inappropriate” development in the Green Belt. He found that all of the part of the site which lies within the Green Belt is previously developed land. He considered that the proposal would not cause “substantial” harm to openness and therefore fell below the “high bar” set by paragraph 149(g) of the NPPF. This meant that the “very special circumstances” test at paragraph 147 of the NPPF did not apply. The inspector observed that significant Green Belt release in Basildon is inevitable. He acknowledged that, as a new local plan is many years away, it is necessary to consider this through the development management process. He described the shortfalls in housing land supply and delivery in Basildon as “stark” and affordable housing delivery as “abysmal”. He afforded “very substantial positive weight” to the scheme’s provision of market homes and “very substantial positive weight” to its provision of affordable homes. Zack Simons and Isabella Buono acted for the Appellant, instructed by Oliver Bell of Nexus Planning. The decision is available here.
