# 236 Hawkes Mill Lane, Coventry

- **Decision:** allowed, 25 September 2026
- **Decided by:** Planning Inspector: G Sibley
- **Authority:** Coventry (West Midlands)
- **Appeal reference:** 6011410
- **Application reference:** PL/2025/0001991/PIP
- **Procedure:** written-representations
- **Development:** Permission in principle (stage 1) for a single dwelling
- **Homes:** 1
- **Site context:** green-belt, settlement-edge
- **Green Belt:** yes (grey belt accepted)
- **Framework applied:** August 2026 NPPF
- **Determinative policies:** GB7(1)(g), TR3
- **Development plan policies:** Coventry Local Plan 2017 GB1, emerging Coventry Local Plan Review GB1
- **Main issues:** inappropriate development in Green Belt, sustainable location
- **Tags:** PIP, grey-belt-accepted, not-inappropriate, sustainable-location-pass, hdt-below-75, small-scheme, psed, parties-consulted-on-2026-framework

## Summary
Permission in principle for one house on an enclosed plot at Hawkes End, Coventry Green Belt. Allowed as not inappropriate under GB7(1)(g): grey belt, unmet need via the Housing Delivery Test, and a TR3-compliant location. The reasoning mirrors PINS-6009837 and the location finding is similarly brief.

## Issues and findings
- **Transition.** "The main parties were given the opportunity to comment on the implications of the new Framework" (DL ¶3).
- **Grey belt: PASS.** "These features enclose the site and create hard boundaries" (DL ¶8); "I consider that the appeal site is grey belt land" (DL ¶10).
- **(g)(ii): PASS** via the published HDT (DL ¶11–12).
- **(g)(iii) / TR3: PASS.** "I recognise that the section closest to the appeal site is not fully street lit. Even so, much of the route is lit and it would provide a realistic pedestrian option for future occupiers" (DL ¶14). "day-to-day travel would not be wholly dependent on the private car" (DL ¶15).
- **Earlier decision.** The 1979 appeal "was made under a different national policy context and before the current grey belt provisions" (DL ¶17).

## Planning balance
None. Not inappropriate; complies with the development plan (DL ¶18, ¶22). S5(5) not mentioned.

## What made the difference
Hard boundaries (houses and a lane) made the plot grey belt, and the published HDT result supplied fn41 need. The location limb passed without measured distances or bus data.

## Transferable points
- A plot enclosed by houses and a lane, with open land beyond the lane, does not strongly contribute to purpose (a) (DL ¶8).
- Pre-grey-belt appeal decisions on the same land carry limited weight (DL ¶17).
- Weak authority on (g)(iii): "not be wholly dependent on the private car" accepted without distances or bus frequencies (DL ¶14–15).

## Policy findings
- **AnnexB:grey-belt: pass.** plot enclosed by row of houses and Ted Pitts Lane; no strong contribution to (a), (b), (d) (DL 7-10)
- **GB7(1)(g)(i): pass.** not fundamentally undermine; letter also considers encroachment (c) and urban regeneration (e) within this limb (DL 10)
- **GB7(1)(g)(ii): pass.** fn41 via published HDT below 75% (figure not stated) despite council's ONS challenge (DL 11-12)
- **GB7(1)(g)(iii): pass.** footpath to Allesley, closest section not fully lit, "much of the route is lit"; cycling practicable; "Nearby bus services"; no distances or frequencies; "not be wholly dependent on the private car" (DL 13-15)
- **TR3: pass.** accords (DL 15)
- **GB7(1)(c): not-engaged.** limited infilling / ribbon development not decided as (g) already met (DL 16)
- **DM4: neutral (limited weight).** emerging plan review at examination, limited weight (DL 4)
- **HE9: neutral.** Brownshill Green CA setting preserved (DL 19)

## Key facts
- Near-identical reasoning to PINS-6009837 (same inspector, same lane, previous day)
- 1979 appeal decision on the site given limited weight as pre-grey-belt policy (DL 17)
- Appellant's accessible-accommodation needs noted under PSED but not needed (DL 20)
- Parties given the opportunity to comment on the 2026 Framework (DL 3)

## Sources
- https://appeal-planning-decision.service.gov.uk/comment-planning-appeal/appeals/6011410
- https://appeal-planning-decision.service.gov.uk/published-document/07895ffa-acef-4a10-bd2a-e6e13059420f

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Source: https://planningdistilled.org/research/england/nppf-navigator/decisions/PINS-6011410.html

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