Planning refusal for new homes in Sutton Bridge is overturned on appeal

A decision to deny permission for six new homes to be built in an area of Sutton Bridge branded as “inadequate” has been overturned.

Wisbech developer Peter Crawley’s plans to build six detached homes near Chestnut Terrace had been turned down twice by South Holland District Council in March and October 2017.

But Mr Crawley has won his appeal to the Planning Inspectorate who narrowly avoided ordering the district council to pay out costs for what a report described as its “injudicious” (ill-judged) decision last March.

In its decision, the district council said: “The proposed access to the application site is considered to be inadequate in terms of its status as a private, unadopted highway.

“It is also considered that there has been a failure to satisfactorily demonstrate that the site is well-related to an adequate road system.”

But the appeal found that the homes “would not harm highway safety and the council’s decision to refuse the application was made contrary to the advice of its own professional officers”.

The appeal judgement said: “The amount of traffic generated by six (homes) would not be significant”.

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