- Decision
- dismissed, 30 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: E Fawcett
- Authority
- Ribble Valley (North West)
- Appeal reference
- 6009649
- Application reference
- 3/2025/0686
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Change of use of agricultural land to mixed agriculture and retail (siting of a food truck) with customer parking
- Site context
- open countryside, national landscape, rural lane
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- N4, DP3(3), S5(1)
- Development plan policies
- Ribble Valley Core Strategy 2014 Key Statement EN2, DMG1, DMG2, DMG3, DMB3
- Main issues
- character and appearance of National Landscape; highway safety
Summary
A farm-diversification food truck and customer parking on a field near Gisburn Forest in the Forest of Bowland National Landscape. Dismissed: parked cars and commercial activity would be an incongruous intrusion in the open pastoral landscape. The principle had S5(1) support, but N4's substantial weight and DP3(3) meant the modest economic benefits were substantially outweighed.
Issues and findings
- Transition. "The main parties were provided with an opportunity to comment" (DL ¶3).
- NL landscape: HARM. The use "would diminish the site's open, rural character and weaken the contribution it makes to the natural beauty of the FBNL" (DL ¶11). Customer vehicles cannot be controlled: "there would be no realistic mechanism to control the colour, size or type of customers' vehicles" (DL ¶16).
- Highways: PASS by condition (DL ¶26, ¶28).
- Fallback. 28-day GPDO use "significantly less harmful"; small weight (DL ¶29).
- S5(1). "the principle of development in this location attracts support from the Framework" (DL ¶31).
- DP3(3). "The proposal would also conflict with Policy DP3 which indicates that proposals should be refused if, without clear justification, they fail to respond to the character and features of their site and its setting" (DL ¶35).
Planning balance
S5(1): limited economic and environmental benefits against NL harm (N4 substantial weight) and DP3 conflict. "Taken together, the benefits of the proposal would be substantially outweighed by its adverse effects" (DL ¶36).
What made the difference
Exposure. The site reads as part of open pasture, not the enclosed forest where the existing car park sits, so vehicles and activity would be seen over a long stretch of road. A site next to an existing farmstead or within the forest edge might have succeeded.
Transferable points
- Temporary, removable features (a food truck, customers' cars) still harm a National Landscape when present in daylight operating hours (DL ¶11, ¶14–15).
- Conditions cannot control the size or colour of customers' vehicles (DL ¶16).
- Visibility-splay works (bound surface, lowered dry-stone wall) add to landscape harm (DL ¶18).
- E4 support for diversification is qualified by its own siting-and-design requirement (DL ¶33).
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 | Forest of Bowland NL; parked vehicles and commercial activity in open pastoral landscape, detached from farmsteads; access splay works remove wall and hedge; landscaping could itself harm openness (DL 5-21, 35) |
| S5(1) | fail | principle "attracts support" as rural business/tourism and reuse of hardstanding (limbs b and d referred to, not formally concluded); benefits substantially outweighed (DL 31-32, 36) | |
| E2 | benefit | substantial weight principle noted; economic benefits limited by small scale (DL 33) | |
| E4 | benefit | farm diversification supported, but E4 also requires siting appropriate to character (DL 33) | |
| N2 | benefit | limited | landscaping and biodiversity "a small amount of weight" (DL 34) |
| DP3(3) | fail | cited with "without clear justification" wording; not sensitively located (DL 35); no separate justification finding | |
| TR6 | pass | 2.4 x 43 m splay required by condition despite low measured speeds and flows (DL 23-28) |
Key facts
- Next to Gisburn Forest recreational hub; visitor demand could fluctuate (DL 7, 16)
- Truck removed daily and seasonal operation offered; harm arises in daylight hours when in use (DL 14-15)
- 28-day GPDO temporary-use fallback greater than theoretical but far less harmful; small weight (DL 29)
- Achievable splay 2.4 x 16.5 m; LHA sought 43 m; condition imposed (DL 25-26)
- Parties given opportunity to comment on the 2026 Framework (DL 3)
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.