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Following a four-week inquiry, an Inspector has dismissed an appeal seeking planning permission for 370 homes in the open countryside near Thornbury, Gloucestershire. The Inspector dis-applied the “tilted balance” in paragraph 11 of the NPPF on the ground that, pursuant to paragraph 196, the harm to heritage assets would outweigh the public benefits of the proposal. It was common ground that the local planning authority could demonstrate a five-year housing land supply. Although a prematurity argument in respect of the emerging West of England Joint Spatial Plan was rejected, the Inspector concluded that material considerations did not justify a departure from the development plan. Rupert Warren QC and Matthew Fraser, instructed by Jamie Lewis at Ridge, acted for the Tortworth Estate, a Rule 6 party objecting to the proposal.
