Land south of London Road, Rockbeare (Cranbrook edge)

Decision

approved, 1 September 2026

Decided by

Council planning committee: East Devon Planning Committee (in accordance with officer recommendation)

Authority

East Devon (South West)

Application reference

26/0534/MOUT

Procedure

committee

Development

Outline, up to 105 dwellings (35% on-site + 15% off-site affordable), open space, allotments, SANGS

Homes

105

Site context

open countryside, settlement edge, agricultural land BMV

Green Belt

No

Housing land supply

3.5 years

Framework applied

August 2026 NPPF

Determinative policies

S5(1)(j)(i), S3, S6

Development plan policies

East Devon Local Plan 2016 Strategy 3, 7, 8 (Green Wedge), Rockbeare Neighbourhood Plan 2018 Rock06, Rock07, emerging Local Plan SP06, OL05

Main issues

S5(1)(j); neighbourhood plan conflict; green wedge; BMV

Summary

Up to 105 homes on countryside and neighbourhood-plan Green Wedge land between Cranbrook and Rockbeare. The council has a 3.5-year supply. Officers approved under S5(1)(j), because the site adjoins the Cranbrook boundary and an allocated 800-home expansion area. They held that the 2018 Rockbeare Neighbourhood Plan no longer has S6 protection because it is more than five years old. The committee approved in line with the recommendation.

Issues and findings

• S5(1)(j): PASS. "The site is located adjacent to the Built-Up Area Boundary of Cranbrook and adjacent to the Grange Expansion Area which is allocated for around 800 dwellings. As such, the site is physically well-related to Cranbrook" (Report, Principle).
• S5(2) check. "the development proposal would not fail to comply with one of the national decision-making policies which states that development proposals should be refused in specific circumstances … the site is not Green Belt" (Report, Principle).
• Neighbourhood plan. The NP "was made on 11 October 2018 … given its age and the Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, the proposal must be assessed in the context of the presumption" (Report, Principle). The site had been dropped from the Cranbrook Plan in 2019 "to reflect the principles of localism that underpinned the Neighbourhood Plan … At present however, the Neighbourhood Plan is more than five years old and therefore out of date" (Land use).
• Location. "around 1km from Cranbrook Town Centre, between 10m and 600m from existing bus stops … around 2.9km from Cranbrook Train Station" (Report, sustainability).

Planning balance

S5(1). The benefits carry significant weight: housing, affordable housing, SANGS, 20% BNG and the new pedestrian/cycle link. Against them: conflict with the Green Wedge and countryside policies, loss of BMV land, and harm to a non-designated heritage asset. "the adverse impacts of the proposed development would not substantially outweigh the benefits".

What made the difference

The neighbourhood plan's Green Wedge policy had kept the site out of the 2019 Cranbrook Plan. Seven years on, S6 no longer protects the plan, because it is over five years old and has no allocations. Its policies became ordinary development plan conflicts in an S5 balance. The relevant settlement was Cranbrook, the new town, not Rockbeare village.

Transferable points

• A neighbourhood plan made more than five years ago falls outside S6, so its protective policies carry no presumption-level shield. They are weighed as plan conflicts in the S5 balance (Report, Principle).
• "Physically well-related" can be satisfied by adjacency to an allocated expansion area not yet built (Report, Principle).

Policy findings

Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.

Key facts

• Site previously removed from the Cranbrook Plan in 2019 in deference to the Rockbeare NP Green Wedge policy
• NP more than five years old, so S6 protection is lost
• 20% BNG; SANGS provided

Sources

• democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk
• democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk
• democracy.eastdevon.gov.uk

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