Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has dismissed an appeal over developer Thornhill Estates’ 400-home development proposed for Farsley in west Yorkshire which Leeds City Council had failed to determine in the prescribed period.
Planning Portal writes:
The planning inspector who held the initial appeal inquiry recommended the outline scheme should be allowed. However, the Secretary of State intervened and requested the inquiry should be reopened to consider housing issues.
By the time this was held the council’s Core Strategy had been found to be sound. The inspector subsequently recommended the appeal should be refused, a stance agreed by the Secretary of State.
Pickles agreed with the inspector that the scheme would result in an adverse impact on the character and identity of the local areas as well as involving the loss of a key site for the local bat population.
Pickles’ decision letter concluded he was satisfied that the council [has] now identified a five year supply of housing land in an up-to-date core strategy without the appeal site, so the presumption in the [National Planning Policy] Framework in favour of sustainable development does not apply’.
‘Furthermore the adverse impacts on local character and identity count against the proposed scheme and the Secretary of State considers it appropriate for the council to proceed to identify the most sustainable sites through the preparation and adoption of its site allocations plan.’
