Inquiry

Inspector allows new KYN care home outside Cambridge

A planning inspector has allowed an appeal seeking planning permission for a care home (C2 use) and state-of-the-art dementia research centre in Girton, Cambridge. The site, which is located in an area of Green Belt known as the ‘Girton gap’, will be developed by KYN, adding to its portfolio of luxury care home properties in Bickley, Hurlingham and Kensington. It will be KYN’s first location outside London.

It was common ground in the appeal that the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt as it did not fall within any of the exceptions in paragraph 149 of the NPPF. Nevertheless, the inspector concluded that the harm to openness would be “negligible” as the development would have a more compact form than the former hotel building currently on the site.

The local planning authority, South Cambridgeshire District Council, resisted the demolition of the hotel building on the ground that it was a “non-designated heritage asset”. The building was originally constructed in the 19th century for Charles Lestourgeon, a Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge, and was later occupied by Sir John Eldon Gorst, a former Solicitor General for England and Wales. However, the inspector agreed with the appellant that the association of the building with these eminent individuals had weakened over time:

“32. In terms of its former occupiers, both Mr Lestourgeon and Sir Eldon Gorst were undoubtedly persons of distinction, but because of the various changes that have occurred to the building, there is little today about the building that has any appreciable connection with these historic owners. The conservatory added by Charles Lestourgeon was removed around the time the building was taken over by the County Council. There is no Historic England ‘Blue Plaque’, nor equivalent local or regional marking, on the building in relation to any of its former inhabitants, nor is there evidence anyone has proposed such a plaque.”

The inspector also agreed with the appellant that Cambridgeshire County Council’s methodology for assessing the unmet need for residential care home beds in its area contained “flaws” that were “likely to have significantly under-estimated the need for additional care home beds”.

In the final planning balance, the inspector concluded that the benefits of the scheme, which included meeting an unmet need for more care home beds, clearly outweighed the “definitional harm” to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, the negligible harm to openness and the harm from the total loss of the non-designated heritage asset. Accordingly, there were very special circumstances which justified allowing inappropriate development in the Green Belt.

Gwion Lewis KC, instructed by Bidwells LLP, acted for the successful appellant.

The decision may be accessed here.

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