Conditions / Refusal Reasons
That the General, Countryside and Housing policies of the Council's
adopted Rural Areas Local Plan (RALP) and the approved South Oxfordshire
Local Plan (SOLP) seek to restrain development in rural areas (Policy G1),
to protect the countryside for its own sake (RALP Policy C1, SOLP Policies
G1 and C1) and to conserve and enhance the natural beauty and landscape
quality of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (RALP Policy
C7, SOLP Policy C2). Development in open countryside will not normally
be permitted except for the overriding needs of Agriculture or Forestry
(RALP Policies G3 and H5, SOLP Policies G5 and H6). Planning permission
will only be granted for new farmhouses or agricultural workers' dwellings
where, inter alia, the viability of the holding is proven and it is
demonstrated that there is an essential agricultural need for a farm worker
to be available at all times on the holding and that this need cannot be
met by any existing accommodation on or close to the farm, or in a suitably
converted building or in any other way (RALP Policy C4, SOLP H14). The
site lies in a prominent location in generally open countryside visible
from a public footpath and properties in Witheridge Mill and outside the
built limits of any nearby settlement. The case put forward for an
agricultural workers' dwelling on this site does not demonstrate an
essential agricultural need for a farm worker to be available at all times
on this holding and does not demonstrate that the holding is viable. As
such, the proposal fails to meet the functional and financial tests
contained in the Council's policies and Annex E of DoE PPG7 "The
Countryside and Rural Economy". Therefore, there is insufficient
justification for this proposal to warrant a relaxation of the Council's
normal planning policies and to outweigh the significant harm which would
be caused to the appearance and character of this attractive locality
within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty as a result of
constructing a dwelling in the proposed location.
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