29 April 2008
New building in open countryside gets the thumbs down
You don't need to build a house in a beautiful landscape to look after it - that is the conclusion reached by the Planning Inspector in justifying a decision by Wealden District Council planners to refuse to allow an eco home to be built in an area protected from development.
Permission was sought for an eco home near the summit of sloping open land in Blackboys, Uckfield, and one of the arguments put forward in support of the new building was that a dwelling was needed to help maintain the environmental character and biodiversity interest of the land.
Planning Inspector Paul Griffiths described this argument, to ensure the stewardship of the landscape, as "misplaced" as there were other means available such as Government grant schemes which would enhance the landscape in a more sustainable manner.
"The value of stewardship must be questioned if the dwelling purported to be required in order to secure it would, as I have found, have a harmful impact on its immediate surroundings," said the Inspector in dismissing the appeal. Rather than grow out of the landscape, he felt the proposed home "would perch unhappily upon it."
"We see many proposals by individuals trying to build homes in the open countryside, and where planning policies exist to protect the landscape from inappropriate development, on the grounds that they have a specific need to live there. We are especially grateful to the Planning Inspector for helping to clarify this point and agreeing with the arguments put forward by the Council," said Councillor Keith Whitehead, Cabinet member for Planning and Development.
"As a carbon neutral building, making use of solar photovoltaic panels and a woodchip-fuelled boiler, and incorporating natural construction materials such as sweet chestnut cladding and shingles; the project was something we would normally welcome in Wealden. But it was in the open countryside, which was the wrong place for it."
"No ecological surveys had been carried out on the site, and any house in that location would in itself have been very reliant on car use."
Planning Inspector Paul Griffith was not persuaded that an argument for managing the land in a sustainable manner, even if the building in question was considered to bean eco home, could of itself make an otherwise inappropriate development appropriate or justified. In particular he considered that these objectives were already able to be achieved through a number of government grant aid mechanisms already available to landowners.
As part of its Climate Change Action Plan, Wealden District Council aims to promote the reduction of carbon emissions in all new developments and encourage the use of renewable energy. People making planning applications in Wealden are required to complete a sustainability check list which asks how their proposals will utilise sustainable energy, help reduce carbon emissions and ensure the long term sustainable management of wildlife and landscape features.
