Burway Lane is a narrow and quiet road that passes to the Cricket Club and a number of rather well appointed houses, before continuing as a track onto farmland to Burway House. In 2014, plans were submitted to Shropshire Council for four market homes and one affordable house.[1] They were rejected in October 2015.
In May, the applicant appealed to the planning inspectorate. Now a planning inspector has now thrown out the plans, saying they are in an unsustainable location, will lead to ribbon development and will block views of the historic centre of Ludlow.
This is the right decision. If these houses had have been approved, the decision would have undermined the local plan for Ludlow, SAMDev. The development would have damaged important views towards Ludlow castle and St Laurence’s. We need housing in Ludlow but the need is for smaller, affordable homes within the town, not detached houses sprawling across green fields at the end of a long lane.
The appeal was conducted in writing (16/02425/REF; 3147470). In her report, inspector Hayley Butcher said the location is not appropriate for housing:
The conditions of Burway Lane and the distance to the main road (some 515m) are such that future occupants of the development would be unlikely to rely on walking as a regular mode of transport, particularly persons with young children in pushchairs or those who use mobility scooters, or have difficulty walking… The continuation of development along Burway Lane, given the existing conditions, away from the main road and town centre, is not a sustainable form of development as it would require increased reliance on private transport.
Ms Butcher was concerned that the housing would intrude into the open countryside:
Whilst the development would form a continuation of an existing ribbon of development it would, nevertheless, represent an encroachment of the built form into what is an attractive and open rural landscape which provides the wider setting of Ludlow.
The housing would block the view towards the historic centre of Ludlow:
This is a well-used public bridleway which…d affords its users views over the countryside surrounding Ludlow and of Ludlow Castle, which can be clearly seen from the appeal site. Any development across the site would, without question, impede these views, even if restricted to five dwellings.
The inspector rejected the appeal and concluded:
The appeal site’s location outside of the Ludlow Area Community Hub conflicts with the Council’s development plan and its approach to housing delivery. In addition to this, the proposal would result in an unsustainable form of development which would require reliance on private transport, and would also cause harm to the character and appearance of the surrounding area.
Notes
[1]. After changes to national planning rules, upheld by the courts, no affordable housing would have been required for this site. See: Affordable housebuilding in Shropshire is set to shudder to a halt – and there is not much we can do about it.
I’m haunted by a leader article in the Shropshire Star on the subject of building on greenfield sites. It was forecasting a comment by a future visitor here returning after some years: “Oh – they’ve ruined it.” This appeal has put off that comment this time. Good. Now we must win, as you said, Foldgate Lane.