- Decision
- dismissed, 17 August 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: John Morrison (on recommendation of appeal planning officer Kim Vo)
- Authority
- Lichfield (West Midlands)
- Appeal reference
- 6009207
- Application reference
- 26/00078/FUL
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- New two-storey 3-bed detached dwelling in the side garden of a semi-detached house
- Homes
- 1
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- s38(6), DP3, TR6
- Development plan policies
- Lichfield Local Plan Strategy 2015 CP3, CP5, BE1, ST1, ST2, Elford NP 2019 DH1
- Main issues
- character and appearance; highway safety
Summary
A detached house squeezed into the side garden of a semi-detached house in Elford was dismissed. It would appear cramped, fill a characterful gap, and share a sub-standard access with no on-site turning (DL ¶8, ¶11-14). The case was decided plan-led, with no S4 balance, on the first day of the new Framework (DL ¶4).
What made the difference
The side gap's townscape role, and the inability to turn vehicles on site (DL ¶7, ¶13-14).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| DP3 | harm | cramped detached dwelling fills a side gap that acts as a transition between two house types (DL 6-9) | |
| TR6 | fail | shared access under 4.2 m and no on-site turning, so reversing onto the road (DL 10-17) | |
| HO7 | benefit | limited | one self-occupied home; limited benefits (DL 18-19) |
Key facts
- Inside the settlement boundary; principle accepted (DL 21)
- Amended parking plans rejected at appeal (DL 3)
- Decided on 17 Aug 2026; new Framework changes "do not affect the substance of the main issues" (DL 4)
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.