Spindles Land , Rew Road, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon , TQ13 7EJ

Spindles Land , Rew Road, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon , TQ13 7EJ — Dartmoor — Costs Decision Site visit made on 9 March 2022 by Mrs H Nicholls FdA MSc MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 12 April 2022 Costs application in relation to Appeal Ref: APP/J9497/W/21/3271294 Spindles Land, Rew Road, Ashburton, Newton Abbot TQ13 7EJ • The application is made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, sections 78, 322 and Schedule 6, and the Local Government Act 1972, section 250(5). • The application is made by Clare Ballard for a full award of costs against Dartmoor National Park Authority. • The appeal was against the refusal of planning permission for erection of dwelling on site of existing caravan. Decision 1. The application for costs is refused. Reasons 2. The Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) advises that costs may be awarded against a party who has behaved unreasonably and thereby caused the party applying for costs to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal process. Costs can be claimed in relation to either procedural or substantive issues. 3.

Spindles Land , Rew Road, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon , TQ13 7EJ — Dartmoor — Costs Decision The applicant seeks a substantive award in this case because it is claimed that the Council ignored a central point in its argument, relating to the Burdle1 case, which if properly understood, would have led to the Council granting permission and avoiding the submission of the appeal. 4. Even if the Council had accepted the Burdle argument, there is no certainty that it would have agreed with the character and appearance effects. The Council identified specific issues with the design which indicate to me that the appeal was unavoidable. Whilst I have found the proposal acceptable in this regard, it is a largely subjective issue and there is little evidence that the fallback position of replacing the caravan with an alternative caravan would be certain to result in greater harm than the current proposal. Thus, I do not consider that the Council has acted unreasonably in maintaining a position contrary to the appellant’s at least in respect of the character and appearance effects. Conclusion 5. As the appeal could not have been avoided in any event, I do not find that the Council has behaved unreasonably, either substantively or procedurally in relation to the appeal application or the appeal itself.

Spindles Land , Rew Road, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon , TQ13 7EJ — Dartmoor — Costs Decision Wasted expense, as described in the PPG, has not been demonstrated and an award of costs is not justified.

Spindles Land , Rew Road, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon , TQ13 7EJ — Dartmoor — Hollie Nicholls INSPECTOR 1 Burdle & Williams v SSE & New Forest RDC [1972] 1 WLR 1207 https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate