Our ref: APP/D3505/W/18/3214377 Stuart Carvel Your ref: n/a Gladman Developments Ltd Gladman House Alexandria Way Congleton Cheshire 1 April 2020 CW12 1LB Dear Sir, TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 – SECTION 78 APPEAL MADE BY GLADMAN DEVELOPMENTS LTD LAND OFF STATION ROAD, LONG MELFORD, SUFFOLK APPLICATION REF: DC/18/00606 1. I am directed by the Secretary of State to say that consideration has been given to the report of Kenneth Stone BSc Hons DipTP MRTPI, who held a public inquiry between 25 June 2019 and 2 July 2019 into your appeal against the failure of Babergh District Council to determine your application for outline planning permission for the erection of up to 150 dwellings with public open space, landscaping and sustainable drainage system (SuDS), and vehicular access point from Station Road, with all matters reserved except means of access, in accordance with application ref: DC/18/00606, dated 8 February 2018. 2. On 25 June 2019, this appeal was recovered for the Secretary of State's determination, in pursuance of section 79 of, and paragraph 3 of Schedule 6 to, the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Inspector’s recommendation and summary of the decision 3. The Inspector recommended that the appeal be allowed and planning permission granted, subject to conditions. 4. For the reasons given below, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector’s conclusions, except where stated, and agrees with his recommendation. He has decided to allow the appeal and grant planning permission. 5. A copy of the Inspector’s report (IR) is enclosed. All references to paragraph numbers, unless otherwise stated, are to that report. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government Tel: 0303 444 3594 Andrew Lynch, Decision Officer Email: [email protected] Planning Casework Unit 3rd Floor Fry Building 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF Procedural matters 6. As set out at IR2, the Secretary of State has noted that minor amendments were made to Site Access drawing P19007-001A prior to the public inquiry, with minor changes to footway arrangements to reflect the granting of an unrelated planning permission on an adjacent site. 7. As the document was available for public inspection as part of the Highways Statement of Common Ground, and as no objections were made by parties to this document being considered during the appeal (IR3), the Secretary of State does not consider that the modifications to this document raise any matters that would require him to refer back to the parties for further representations prior to reaching his decision on this appeal, and he is satisfied that no interests have thereby been prejudiced. He has therefore considered the scheme on this basis. Matters arising since the close of the inquiry 8. On 13 November 2019, the Secretary of State wrote to the main parties to notify them of a variation in the timetable due to the December 2019 General Election, and to afford them an opportunity to comment on Babergh District Council’s Housing Land Supply Position Statement, published September 2019. A full list of representations received in response to this letter is at Annex A. Representations received in response to this letter were circulated to the main parties on 29 November 2019 for further comment, and then the final representations received were circulated for information purposes only on 9 December 2019. 9. The Secretary of State is satisfied that no other new issues were raised in this correspondence to warrant further investigation or necessitate additional referrals back to parties. A list of representations which have been received since the inquiry is at Annex A. Copies of these letters may be obtained on written request to the address at the foot of the first page of this letter. 10. On 13 February 2020 the 2019 Housing Delivery Test measurements were published. Babergh District Council’s measurement changed from 88% (2018 measurement) to 123% (2019 measurement). As this does not result in a material change relevant to this appeal, the Secretary of State is satisfied this did not warrant further investigation or necessitate additional referrals back to parties. Policy and statutory considerations 11. In reaching his decision, the Secretary of State has had regard to section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 which requires that proposals be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. 12. In this case the development plan consists of saved policies from the Babergh Local Plan Alteration No. 2 (BLP), adopted June 2006, and the Babergh Local Plan 2011-3031 Core Strategy & Policies (CS), adopted February 2014. The Secretary of State considers that relevant development plan policies include those set out at IR21 and IR 27. 13. Other material considerations which the Secretary of State has taken into account include the National Planning Policy Framework (‘the Framework’) and associated planning guidance (‘the Guidance’), the Rural Development & Core Strategy CS11 (Supplementary Planning Document) (RCDS SPD), the Dedham Vale Area of 2 Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Stour Valley Management Plan 2016-21 (DVSVMP), and Babergh District Council’s Housing Land Supply Position Statement (HLSPS) (September 2019). The revised National Planning Policy Framework was published on 24 July 2018 and further revised in February 2019. Unless otherwise specified, any references to the Framework in this letter are to the 2019 Framework. 14. In accordance with section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (the LBCA Act), the Secretary of State has paid special regard to the desirability of preserving those listed buildings potentially affected by the proposals, or their settings or any features of special architectural or historic interest which they may possess. 15. In accordance with section 72(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (the LBCA Act), the Secretary of State has paid special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of conservation areas. Emerging plans 16. Emerging plans comprise the Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council Joint Local Plan (JLP), and the Long Melford Neighbourhood Plan (LMNP). Paragraph 48 of the Framework states that decision makers may give weight to relevant policies in emerging plans according to: (1) the stage of preparation of the emerging plan; (2) the extent to which there are unresolved objections to relevant policies in the emerging plan; and (3) the degree of consistency of relevant policies to the policies in the Framework. As both documents are at an early stage and will require further consultation before undergoing examination, the Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector at IR29 that the JLP carries limited weight in the decision-making process, and at IR31 that the LMNP carries little weight in the decision-making process. Main issues District-wide Housing Land Supply 17. The Secretary of State notes at IR425 that at the time of the Inquiry all parties agreed that Babergh District Council could not demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land, with the appellant calculating 4.11 years, and the Council calculating 4.86 years. He notes that the Inspector concluded it was in the region of 4.73 years (IR433), engaging the tilted balance set out at paragraph 11 of the Framework and attracting substantial weight in favour of the proposal (IR452). 18. In September 2019 Babergh District Council published the HLSPS. As set out in paragraphs 8-9 of this Decision Letter, the Secretary of State wrote to parties on 13 November 2019 to seek their views on this document. 19. Planning Practice Guidance (Paragraph: 004 Reference ID: 68-004-20190722) states that, for decision-taking purposes, an authority will need to be able to demonstrate a 5 year housing land supply when dealing with applications and appeals. They can do this in one of two ways: • using the latest available evidence such as a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA), Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA), or an Authority Monitoring Report (AMR); 3 • ‘confirming’ the 5-year land supply using a recently adopted plan or through a subsequent annual position statement (as set out in paragraph 74 of the National Planning Policy Framework). 20. In this case, the authority has not chosen to confirm its 5-year land supply. 21. The Secretary of State has carefully considered both the contents of the HLSPS, and the representations received from the parties in response to his letter. In the circumstances of this case, the Secretary of State considers that the HLSPS represents the most up to date evidence before him and agrees with its contents. He therefore considers that Babergh District Council can now demonstrate a housing land supply of 5.67 years. 22. The Secretary of State has also carefully considered the Inspector’s assessment of the most important development plan policies at IR444-450. For the reasons given there, he considers that, while elements of CS2 are inconsistent with the Framework and CS3 is out of date, when viewed in the round, the most important policies for determining this appeal identified in IR444 are not out-of-date. For this reason, and given his findings above in relation to housing land supply, the Secretary of State does not consider the tilted balance set out at paragraph 11 of the Framework to be engaged, and considers the appropriate weight for the delivery of housing to be that set out at paragraph 30 of this Decision Letter. The need for housing locally 23. The Secretary of State notes (IR23-24) that CS2 and CS3 set out the district’s growth strategy, with CS2 identifying a settlement hierarchy and directing growth along that hierarchy, and CS3 setting out targets for growth, including a housing target, and allocating that growth within the existing settlement pattern and in “new and balanced communities”.