126 Toms Lane, Kings Langley

Appeal 6011803 · Three Rivers District Council · Planning Inspector · decided 9 September 2026 · dismissed

Demolition of existing building and construction of replacement and infill dwellings, on a site washed over by the Green Belt.

Case page · Decision letter

Cited in: 1. DP3(3) as a "should be refused" policy; 4. Location shortcuts in the Green Belt

Why this is cited. This appeal shows the approach on two of the note's points. On a site washed over by the Green Belt, which the parties agreed was not inappropriate, the inspector applied S5(5), not S4: the route section 4 says SDC should take (adding that the result would be the same under S4). And a conflict with a local design standard engaged DP3(3), so “the proposal should be refused”: the trigger Snitterfield cited but used only as weight.

Key points

Green Belt: "the parties are in agreement that the proposal is not inappropriate development" (¶4).
Route: "Paragraph 5 of policy S5 of the Framework explains, in summary, that where development would not be inappropriate, proposals should be approved unless the benefits of doing so would be substantially outweighed" (¶17).
The council argued S4 applied; the inspector noted "the site is designated in the Local Plan as being washed over by the Green Belt" (¶18), adding "Even if the area is viewed as a built-up area where policy S4 of the Framework would apply" (¶19), the concerns would remain.
DP3(3): "the proposal would fail to comply with one of the national decision-making policies, namely paragraph 3 of policy DP3, where there is a clear conflict with policy DM1 of the TRLDD insofar as it relates to the development of backland homes" (¶20). "This policy of the Framework directs that the proposal should be refused" (¶20).

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.