Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 1 February 2022 by Helen Smith BSc (Hons) MSc MA MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: Thursday 10 March 2022 Appeal Ref: APP/J3720/W/21/3285084 Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire CV37 8LJ • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 against a refusal to grant planning permission. • The appeal is made by Symonds and Newey against the decision of Stratford-on-Avon District Council. • The application Ref 21/00983/FUL, dated 24 March 2021, was refused by notice dated 12 July 2021. • The development proposed is 2No. Proposed Dwellings. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Main Issue 2. The main issue is whether the proposal would be a sustainable form of development having regard to local policy and the National Planning Policy Framework. Reasons 3. The appeal site is a parcel of land located on Campden Road and situated between Twiga House and Police House. The site is set back from the road behind a mature hedgerow. It comprises a garden area serving Twiga House and its appearance is rural in character.

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision The new settlement of Meon Vale is situated to the south of the site, and the settlement of Quinton (divided into upper and lower areas) is situated to the east. 4. Policy CS.15 of the Stratford-on-Avon District Core Strategy (CS) (2016) established that new development should be built within the built-up area boundaries of a defined settlement. As the site is located in excess of 0.5km from the settlement of Quinton and falls outside the built area, it does not form part of Quinton’s physical confines. Consequently, the appeal site is located in the open countryside and outside the physical confines of Quinton. As such, the proposal runs contrary to Policy CS.15. In addition, the proposal would not satisfy criterion b) of Policy AS.10, which allows for development of small-scale schemes for housing within the Built-Up Area Boundary (BUAB) of a Local Service Village (where defined). Thus, the proposal conflicts with Policy AS.10. 5. The settlement of Quinton is classified as a category 1 Local Service Village (LSV) within the Council’s Core Strategy (2016). However, Quinton does not yet have an adopted BUAB.

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision Although the appeal site is located outside the draft BUAB for Quinton identified in the Preferred Options Site Allocations Plan https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision Although the appeal site is located outside the draft BUAB for Quinton identified in the Preferred Options Site Allocations Plan https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/J3720/W/21/3285084 (SAP), that plan is at an early stage and has still to go through publication and examination, as a result of which the BUABs may change. Therefore, I give the draft BUAB for Quinton little weight in the context of this appeal. 6. Permission was granted for the 4 dwellings on Campden Road (17/00653/FUL, 17/02228/FUL). However, the decision for the principle of development (14/01733/OUT) was taken under different policy circumstances. The Council’s adopted Core Strategy (2016) is clear that residential development should be located within the BUAB or the physical confines of an LSV. I also note that the Officer’s report for application (17/02228/FUL) states that “Twiga House forms the end of the ribbon” along Campden Road. In any case, I have determined this appeal on its own individual merits having regard to the particular characteristics of the site. 7. The appeal site is located next to a form of ribbon development along Campden Road that consists of a car washing business, four new detached dwellings and Twiga House.

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision The site forms a green space that interrupts the built-up part of the ribbon development and makes an important contribution to the separation of built development and the open countryside. Police House is spatially divorced from the ribbon development by the green space of the appeal site, and therefore does not form part of the ribbon development. Notwithstanding the appeal site’s proximity to the nearby houses, it is experienced as being apart from such development. The site’s characteristically verdant, undeveloped nature emphasises a transition from the built form to a more rural context beyond. The proposal would introduce two detached dwellings that would harmfully extend built form into the countryside. 8. The Meon Vale settlement is not designated as an LSV and therefore does not have a defined BUAB. Thus, Meon Vale is classed as an ‘all other settlement’, where development is restricted to small-scale community led schemes which meet a need identified by the local community, as per the requirements of Policy CS.15. There is no evidence before me to suggest the proposal would fulfil this requirement. In addition, the appeal site does not fall within the settlement confines of Meon Vale.

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision Its segregation from the settlement confines means that it would not be located where it would readily access the services and facilities of Meon Vale. I have therefore attributed little weight to the proximity of the appeal site to Meon Vale as a beneficial aspect of the proposal. 9. For the reasons given, the proposal would be located in the open countryside in conflict with policy. In addition, the proposal is not a community-led scheme and offers no significant benefits to the local area that would outweigh the harm identified. Thus, the proposal runs contrary to the overall development strategy for the District, which weighs heavily against it. 10. The proposal therefore fails to accord with Policy CS.15 and Policy AS.10 of the CS (2016), which strictly controls development in open countryside. Other Matters 11. The appellant makes reference to the NPPF (para 60) and claims that the proposal is consistent with the Government’s objective of boosting the supply of homes. Whilst the development would make a small contribution to the local housing supply, this small benefit does not outweigh the harm identified. https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/J3720/W/21/3285084 12. The proposal would generate some employment opportunities at the construction stage. However, these benefits would be relatively short lived. 13. The proposal would not cause harm in respect of highway safety, ecology or neighbour’s living conditions, and there would be some social benefits from the scheme. However, these benefits are relatively small and do not outweigh the harm to the open countryside. 14. Reference has been made to the draft Quinton Neighbourhood Plan (NP). From the evidence before me, the NP seems to be at an early stage of its preparation and is yet to go through examination stage. It is also unclear as to whether there are any unresolved objections. As such, the NP carries little weight. 15. The appellant has made reference to the Council’s Site Allocations Plan Preferred Options (SAP) and how this document identifies the land to the rear of the appeal site as a Reserved Housing Site. However, the SAP is at an early stage in its formation and there is no evidence before me to indicate that this site is to be released for development. I therefore attribute little weight to this. Conclusion 16.

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Appeal Decision The development conflicts with the development plan taken as a whole and there are no material considerations to suggest the decision should be made other than in accordance with the development plan. 17. For the reasons given above I conclude that the appeal should be dismissed.

Land to north of Twiga House, Campden Road, Lower Quinton, Warwickshire, CV37 8LJ — Stratford-on-Avon District Council — Helen Smith INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3