- Decision
- allowed, 4 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: K Reeves
- Authority
- Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (South West)
- Appeal reference
- 6003539
- Application reference
- P/25/03296/FUL
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Demolition of garage to form access and erection of a detached bungalow on backland plot (non-determination)
- Homes
- 1
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- F5, CC3, P3
- Development plan policies
- Poole Local Plan 2018 PP27, PP28, PP37, PP38, PP32, PP39, Sandbanks Peninsula Neighbourhood Plan 2023 SAND5
- Main issues
- character; living conditions; flood risk; habitats
Summary
A backland bungalow at Sandbanks was allowed despite the Council's concern that the whole peninsula could be cut off by rising tides. The dwelling and its access lie outside the modelled future flood extent, and "the peninsula-isolation scenario is not a mapped constraint" (DL ¶21). Character and living conditions were acceptable.
What made the difference
The Council's own mapping put neither the dwelling nor its access in a future flood zone. It was distinguished from an earlier Banks Road appeal where both the building and its escape route were inside the modelled extent (DL ¶24). F5 and CC3 are paraphrased loosely as requiring safe access "for the lifetime of the development" (DL ¶22).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| F5 | pass | dwelling and access outside modelled future flood extent; the Council's concern that the whole peninsula could be cut off is "not a mapped constraint" (DL 17-25) | |
| CC3 | pass | read with F5 for climate-change future flood conditions (DL 22) | |
| P3 | pass | daylight modelling unchallenged by technical evidence; garden adequate (DL 11-16) | |
| DP3 | pass | enclosed backland pocket in a varied townscape (DL 5-10) |
Key facts
- Only a strip at the rear of the garden falls in modelled future flood area; Banks Road access could flood by ~200 mm at MHWS by 2125
- SAMM contributions for Dorset Heathlands and Poole Harbour secured by unilateral undertaking
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.