- Decision
- dismissed, 4 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: C Butcher
- Authority
- Cornwall (South West)
- Appeal reference
- 6002880
- Application reference
- PA24/08310
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Engineering works to sea cliff retaining structure and galvanised steel steps down to the water
- Site context
- inside settlement, national landscape, conservation area
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- N4, HE6, S4
- Development plan policies
- Cornwall Local Plan 2010-2030 Policies 1, 2, 12, 23, 24, Roseland NDP LA1, LA2, CV1, CV3, GP1, GP2
- Main issues
- national landscape; heritage coast; conservation area
Summary
Galvanised steel steps down a gabion-faced sea cliff to the water at St Mawes, within the Cornwall National Landscape, heritage coast and conservation area. Dismissed. The stairs were found "a contrived and artificial feature" that would stand proud of the wall in a prominent spot (DL ¶10). This harmed the conservation area (lower-end harm), the NL and the heritage coast. The mainly private benefits could not justify it, and under S4 the harm substantially outweighed the benefits (DL ¶22).
What made the difference
The problem was the materials and the stairs' position: steel standing proud of the wall, visible from road and sea. Local precedents were stone and recessed into the cliff. Private water access and cheaper construction carried very little weight against N4's substantial weight and the heritage harm. Note that the index's "TR2" hit for this letter is the postcode (TR2 5DR), not the policy.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| N4 | harm | substantial | N4 substantial weight to conserving natural beauty; LURA 2023 duty to "seek to further"; prominent steel stairs harm NL and heritage coast (DL 6, 15) |
| HE6 | harm | harm to St Mawes CA "at the lower end of the scale"; benefits almost entirely private; HE4/HE6 wording paraphrased without codes ("clear and convincing justification") (DL 12-14) | |
| S4 | fail | combined harm substantially outweighs limited benefits (DL 22) |
Key facts
- Cliff engineering already approved separately (PA25/06272); appeal turned on the steel stairs only (DL 3)
- Other water-access stairs in the area mostly stone and recessed; one steel example atypical (DL 11)
- Parties invited to comment on the 17 Aug 2026 Framework (DL 2)
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.