- Decision
- allowed, 21 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: C Butcher
- Authority
- Cornwall (South West)
- Appeal reference
- 6008437
- Application reference
- PA25/02049
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- s73 removal of condition 3 (occupancy tied to The Victory Inn) on dwelling permission PA20/03304
- Homes
- 1
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- AnnexB:settlement, DM6
- Development plan policies
- Cornwall Local Plan 2010-2030 policies 1, 2, 3, 7, Climate Emergency DPD C1, St Agnes NDP policy 5, CPOAN Infilling and Rounding Off 2017
- Main issues
- necessity of occupancy condition; spatial strategy
Summary
An occupancy condition tying a dwelling to the neighbouring pub was removed on appeal. The site was found to be an infill plot within the village of Towan Cross, so the countryside justification for the tie fell away. The inspector also tested the site against the Annex B definition of "settlement": the cluster around the pub might look like a hamlet on its own, but it is part of a larger village made up of several clusters (DL ¶13).
What made the difference
Treating the dispersed, multi-cluster village as one settlement. For Annex B, a cluster is read in the context of the wider settlement it belongs to, not on its own. The letter does not mention the transition to the 2026 Framework.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| AnnexB:settlement | pass | cluster round the pub "could be considered to be a hamlet when considered in isolation" but forms part of a larger multi-cluster village, "more akin to a small village than a hamlet" — so no Framework conflict (DL 13) | |
| Cornwall LP Policy 3 | accord | infill within Towan Cross though set back and not in a continuous frontage; LP7 countryside policy not engaged (DL 6-9) | |
| DM6 | pass | code mapped by harvester — occupancy tie no longer necessary; replaced with principal-residence condition per NDP policy 5 (DL 9, 14) | |
| HE6 | not-engaged | Mingoose CA and St Agnes Mining District WHS nearby; condition removal has no external effect (DL 11) |
Key facts
- Earlier appeal APP/D0840/W/16/3145276 had imposed the pub tie under the previous plan (DL 8)
- Bus stop outside the pub with relatively frequent services to St Agnes and Truro (DL 10)
- Towan Cross is made up of several clusters with gaps, entry and exit signs (DL 6)
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.