The Hignett Family Trust's appeal against B&NES Planning Committee decision not to approve their proposed development has been dismissed by the Planning Inspector hearing evidence at the Public Inquiry held in January 2025.
The full 28 page report is available here.
This is a major achievement for all of us - the many, many people who have been working so hard over the last three years to fight this proposed excessive development. We send huge thanks to everyone, too numerous to mention by name, who have contributed specialist knowledge, delivered leaflets and generally spread the word and built up the support of the community. Thanks also to the hundreds of sponsors providing funds that enabled the Parish Councils – supported by SOBA – to play an active part at the appeal, put forward our case and have the community’s voice heard.
The Hignett Family Trust’s (HFT) application to build 290 more houses on the plateau was almost unanimously rejected by the B&NES Planning Committee in April 2024 following over a thousand public objections. Despite this, HFT appealed to the national Planning Inspectorate to overturn B&NES’s decision. An Inquiry sat for 7 days starting in late January 2025, and the Inspector published his Appeal Decision report on Friday 14th March.
Line 1 of this report is ‘The appeal is dismissed’. We won!
We know HFT will be back with a revised proposal, so SOBA’s work will continue. This latest decision will significantly constrain the extent of any development and the number of additional houses that can be built. It should also see off the plans that HFT have to develop the whole plateau across to the Cross Keys.
What does the report say?
There were three areas which contributed to the dismissal of the appeal by the Inspector: the impact on the Cotswold National Landscape, the impact on heritage assets and the extent of mixed use.
The negative impact on the Cotswold National Landscape was the decisive factor and was given the most weight by the Inspector. The entire site lies within the Cotswold National Landscape (CNL), which was formerly known as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Inspector stressed the landscape value of the plateau and its contribution to the CNL’s special qualities. He was critical of the current phase 1 development which ‘is very conspicuous on the skyline which previously would have been largely undeveloped.’
His view was that the new development as proposed (Phases 3 and 4) would have too great a visual impact from within the CNL and ‘it is unlikely that any amount of suitable planting would be sufficient to visually screen the housing during the day or night.’ As a result ‘It would not avoid a detrimental impact on the CNL.’
The other two areas where he considered there would be a negative impact, but of lesser weight, were the impact on heritage assets and the extent to which the development was, or was not, mixed use. Neither of these on their own would have been decisive but they are factors that need to be considered when weighing up the pros and cons of the development (the ‘Planning Balance’).
The Inspector did not uphold our objections on the impact of traffic, and accepted the view of B&NES Highways Authority that the developer’s traffic modelling was acceptable. This is deeply frustrating as we feel our arguments and evidence were convincing and we know the traffic at peak times in this area is already a major issue.
Despite these caveats the dismissal is a terrific result that demonstrates what can be achieved by such a huge community effort.
Many, many thanks for all your support.
Best wishes - SoBA
It is not expected that the Inspector will make his decision known until several weeks after the end of the Inquiry.
Attending the Inquiry
We are not planning a protest before the meeting as that would be inappropriate on this occasion. If you wish to attend the Inquiry in person then please e-mail planning_appeals@bathnes.gov.uk with your name and why you are interested in attending. The Inquiry will also be live streamed and can be watched here.
As was the case at both Planning Committee meetings, it is important that attendees are respectful and listen to all the arguments without interruption.
Speakers at the Inquiry
There is the opportunity to speak at the Inquiry, as there was at the Planning Committee. Given the level of interest, the Planning Inspector has asked us to coordinate with other objectors to avoid repetition but also to ensure that the local community’s views are represented. SOBA, the Parish and the Ward Councillors will endeavour to do this.
If you have any queries, please contact us at info@soba.org.uk .
