The Barn, Tithe Barn Lane, Earlswood (postal address Hockley Heath)

26/01458/FUL · Stratford-on-Avon District Council · officer (delegated) · decided 3 September 2026 · granted

Demolition of an agricultural barn and erection of a single self-build dwelling with detached garage, in the Green Belt.

Planning record

Cited in: 4. Location shortcuts in the Green Belt; 5. Walking routes and stations

Why this is cited. The mistake: limb (iii) of GB7(1)(g) was passed because the dwelling sat inside the built-up area boundary of a Local Service Village, with no assessment of the route to services. What should have happened: a built-up area boundary and a village category are policy designations, not evidence of how residents would travel, so the sustainable-location test should have been decided on the real route and TR3.

Key points

Built-up area boundary: "Some of the applications site, specifically the area where the dwelling itself is proposed, falls within the BUAB" (p.4); "The majority of the proposal is contained within the BUAB" (p.5). The access drive and the front and side garden are outside it.
GB7(1)(g)(iii): "Considering the location of the dwelling, within the BUAB of an identified local service village, I am satisfied that the proposals would be in a sustainable location" (p.9). The report passed the limb "despite the identified conflicts with Policies CS.15, CS.16 and AS.10" (p.9).
The report does not assess the route to services against TR3.

Quotations are from the officer report, decision notice or appeal decision letter, with page (p.) or paragraph (¶) numbers. Read the decision itself for the full reasoning.

Summarised for the note on Stratford decisions under the August 2026 NPPF. Not legal advice. Back to the note.