Plainview Planning has secured planning permission for five chalet-style family homes on the edge of Great Leighs, near Chelmsford, on a site with a history of refusals and a settlement boundary running through the plot.
The approved scheme includes the demolition of existing storage buildings, workshops, garages and stables, replacing them with five new homes, landscaped gardens, parking and a new access.
A key challenge was that part of the site lies outside the defined settlement boundary, where local planning policy generally restricts development. Plainview Planning undertook a detailed review of the site’s planning history and identified evidence of historic lawful uses and previously developed land, helping to strengthen the case for development.
The proposal also benefited from the application of the National Planning Policy Framework’s “tilted balance” under Paragraph 11(d), as the local authority was unable to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply at the time of submission. The scheme’s housing benefits, sustainable location and high-quality design were found to outweigh any identified harm.
Following consideration by Chelmsford City Council, planning permission was granted, delivering five new family homes and bringing forward a site that had previously been considered difficult to develop.
