# Land east of Bere Hill, Whitchurch

- **Decision:** dismissed, 15 September 2026
- **Decided by:** Planning Inspector: H Nicholls
- **Authority:** Basingstoke and Deane (South East)
- **Appeal reference:** 6006893
- **Application reference:** 24/01949/FUL
- **Procedure:** inquiry
- **Development:** 115 dwellings (40% affordable), public house, employment units, open space, SuDS (non-determination appeal)
- **Homes:** 115
- **Site context:** settlement-edge, open-countryside, national-landscape, agricultural-land-BMV
- **Green Belt:** no
- **Framework applied:** August 2026 NPPF
- **Determinative policies:** S5(1)(j), S5(2), N4(4), DP3(1), DP3(2), N2(1)(a), N2(1)(d)
- **Development plan policies:** Basingstoke and Deane Local Plan 2016 SS1, SS6, EM1, EM10, Whitchurch NDP 2017 GD1
- **Main issues:** landscape character, National Landscape setting, design quality, S5(1)(j) balance
- **Tags:** s5-1-j, substantially-outweighed, national-landscape-setting, design-refusal, uncertain-benefits, landscape-harm, housing-shortfall, large-scheme

## Summary
Non-determination appeal for 115 homes (40% affordable), a pub and employment units on the eastern edge of Whitchurch, in the setting of the North Wessex Downs National Landscape. Dismissed after inquiry. The site passed the S5(1)(j) gateway, but serious landscape harm, harm to the NL setting (N4(4)) and poor design (DP3) together "substantially outweighed" the benefits despite a 2.2–3.1-year supply.

## Issues and findings
- **Transition.** Inquiry closed 14 Aug 2026; parties made written comments on the 2026 Framework after it (ID24, ID25), "to avoid any prejudice" (DL ¶10). Decided wholly under the 2026 Framework.
- **Landscape character — N2(1)(a),(d): CONFLICT.** "the proposal would cause serious harm to the landscape character and appearance of the area" (DL ¶30); "a significantly urbanising and strident intervention into the countryside" (DL ¶26).
- **NL setting — N4(4): FAIL.** "the proposed development would introduce a greatly urbanising scheme that neither avoids nor minimises adverse impacts on the NWDNL though development in its setting" (DL ¶41); the proposal was not "sensitively located and designed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts on the Protected Landscape" (DL ¶41). Railway line boundary found less of a visual separator than the A34, which explained approvals elsewhere in the NL (DL ¶¶34, 40).
- **Design — DP3(1),(2): FAIL.** "the combination of the scale, layout, density and appearance of the scheme would not amount to an acceptable quality of design" (DL ¶55). On density: "Whilst the emphasis on the efficient of the use of land is entirely logical and receives greater emphasis in the 2026 Framework, the context of sites should also be a relevant factor" (DL ¶51).
- **S5(1)(j): PASS.** "The scheme would help to address an evidenced unmet need for housing under the terms of Policy S5(1)(j) … In physical connectivity, rather than landscape and visual terms, it would be sufficiently well related to the existing settlement" (DL ¶69).
- **Uncertain benefits.** Pub under HC4: "there is reason to depart from the substantial weight suggested as the scheme would not necessarily deliver the public house … I attribute this element modest weight" (DL ¶72). Employment units likewise tempered (DL ¶73).

## Planning balance
S5(1) "substantially outweighed" balance, informed by S5(2). For: homes substantial; affordable significant; BNG/biodiversity great; location/station access moderate; open space, pub, economic, sustainable design modest. Against: landscape, NL setting and design harms "substantial adverse weight" (DL ¶68). "I have found a number of conflicts with national decision-making policies, including Policies N4 (4), DP3 (1) and (2) and N2 (1)(a) and (d). Taking these conflicts collectively, there would be substantial adverse effects from approving the proposals that outweigh the collective benefits of the scheme" (DL ¶79). Settlement-strategy policies SS1/SS6 given only limited weight (DL ¶67); the dismissal rests on the character/design policies, which kept full weight.

## What made the difference
The site sat over the town's ridge on an exposed east-facing slope, visually linked to the National Landscape, with no existing eastern containment; mitigation relied on an engineered embankment that would not hide the roofscape. Design quality was independently poor (repetitive house types, fragmented open space). Passing S5(1)(j) was not enough: the S5 balance was run against N4(4), N2 and DP3 and lost. A contained site, or a lower-density/better designed scheme without an exposed NL-setting view, would likely have succeeded given the shortfall.

## Transferable points
- "Physically well-related" in S5(1)(j)(i) is about physical connectivity, not landscape/visual relationship (DL ¶69) — landscape harm is dealt with in the balance, not the gateway.
- S5(2) is applied by aggregating conflicts with several national decision-making policies (N4(4), DP3, N2) — they need not each be a "refuse" policy on its own (DL ¶79).
- Substantial weight to homes plus significant weight to 40% affordable in a 2.2–3.1-year supply can still be "substantially outweighed" by serious landscape and design harm (DL ¶¶70, 79).
- HC4 "substantial weight" to community facilities can be reduced where delivery is uncertain / market-dependent (DL ¶72).
- Local-plan settlement-boundary policies carry limited weight for "material inconsistency with the 2026 Framework" where supply is short (DL ¶67).
- Greater emphasis on density in the 2026 Framework does not override site context (DL ¶51).

## Policy findings
- **S5(1)(j): pass.** evidenced unmet need (2.2-3.1 yrs); "physically well-related" read as physical connectivity, not landscape/visual; scale accommodated by infrastructure (DL 69)
- **N4(4): fail (substantial weight).** setting of North Wessex Downs NL; not sensitively located/designed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts (DL 33-41)
- **N2(1)(a): conflict (substantial weight).** "serious harm" to landscape character and appearance (DL 30-31)
- **N2(1)(d): conflict (substantial weight).** landscaping would not integrate development; engineered buffer embankment (DL 26, 31)
- **DP3(1): fail (substantial weight).** scale, layout, density, appearance not acceptable quality; repetitive red brick house types, fragmented open space (DL 43-56)
- **DP3(2): fail (substantial weight).** does not respond to context / integrate with surroundings (DL 56)
- **HO7: benefit (substantial weight).** 115 homes in serious and significant shortfall likely to persist (eLP not adopted until c. autumn 2029) (DL 63-64, 70)
- **HO8: benefit (significant weight).** 46 affordable homes (DL 70)
- **HC4: benefit (limited weight).** HC4 says substantial weight to new community facilities, but pub only "modest" weight because delivery uncertain (market-dependent, S106 marketing only) (DL 72)
- **E1: benefit.** employment units — weight "tempered" by uncertainty of delivery (DL 73)
- **TR3: benefit (moderate weight).** walking/cycling access to town facilities and Whitchurch station (DL 74)
- **N2: benefit (great weight).** BNG over 10% (hedgerow units significantly) plus allotment contribution — "great weight" (DL 77)
- **SS1/SS6 (settlement strategy): conflict (limited weight).** limited weight given supply position and "material inconsistency with the 2026 Framework" (DL 67)
- **BMV loss: conflict (limited weight).** (DL 67)

## Key facts
- Agreed supply range 2.2-3.1 years (base 1 Apr 2025); shortfall c. 2,000-3,000 homes; new Local Plan not expected before c. autumn 2029
- 8.8 ha pasture on exposed east-facing slope beyond the town's ridge; railway embankment marks the North Wessex Downs NL boundary immediately north
- About 35% of dwellings 2.5 storeys; 21-23 dph; eastern buffer on c. 4 m engineered embankment with swale
- Over half the scheme two plain red-brick house types; photomontages found to underplay year-1 effects
- NWD NL covers about a third of the borough; appellant argued site one of few options at Whitchurch

## Sources
- https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Whitchurch-Bere-Hill-Appeal-6006893.pdf
- https://www.planninggeek.co.uk/2026/whitchurch-housing-appeal/

---

Source: https://planningdistilled.org/research/england/nppf-navigator/decisions/PINS-6006893.html

A summary of a public planning decision, written from the decision letter. Not legal advice. © Planning Distilled. Released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): share and adapt freely, with credit to Planning Distilled. Quotations from decision letters, plans and the Framework remain the copyright of their publishers.