The Old School, Stretton-on-Fosse

Decision

approved, 29 September 2026

Decided by

Council officer (delegated): Case officer Issy Howell

Authority

Stratford-on-Avon (West Midlands)

Application reference

26/01687/FUL

Procedure

delegated

Development

Change of use of a former school building, last used for storing and restoring paintings, to one self-build dwelling, with part demolition, extensions, outbuildings and landscaping (resubmission of 25/01232/FUL)

Homes

1

Site context

inside settlement, conservation area, valued landscape, TPO

Green Belt

No

Housing land supply

2.21 years

Framework applied

August 2026 NPPF

Determinative policies

S4(1), AnnexB:settlement

Development plan policies

Stratford-on-Avon Core Strategy 2016 CS.15, AS.10, CS.20, CS.22, CS.25, CS.9, CS.26, CS.4, CS.6, CS.2

Main issues

whether the village is a settlement; S4 balance; reuse of a building

Summary

Conversion of a disused former school in Stretton-on-Fosse to one self-build home, a resubmission of a scheme permitted in December 2025. Granted under delegated powers on 29 September 2026. The case is recorded for one point: the village has no Built-Up Area Boundary, so the Core Strategy treats it as countryside, but the officer applied the Annex B definition and held it to be a settlement as the NPPF defines it, so S4 applied. The report is a scanned image and was read by OCR; page numbers are PDF pages.

Issues and findings

• Development plan. Stretton-on-Fosse sits in the lowest tier of the council's settlement hierarchy: "As the application is within an all other settlement, AS.10 is engaged" (p.4). The conversion complied with AS.10(c), CS.20, CS.22 and CS.25.
• Settlement, Annex B: PASS. "Although within the Core Strategy the site does not lie within a defined BUAB, the NPPF defines a settlement as the following" (p.4), followed by a quotation of most of the Annex B definition. Then: "Stretton-on-Fosse is predominantly built-up with a concentrated area of residential development that clearly has a physical confines which transitions from built form to open land. There are a number of dwellings, a pub, a church, a cemetery as well as two bus stops. I think it is reasonable to suggest that Stretton-on-Fosse would be defined as a settlement in NPPF terms and therefore should be assessed against paragraph S4 (principle of development within settlements)" (p.4).
• Housing. "The benefits of the scheme relate to the contribution of an additional dwelling to the District's substandard housing supply which I afford substantial weight in favour of the application" (p.7).
• Heritage and landscape. The site is in the Conservation Area and a Special Landscape Area. The report relies on the earlier permission: "The previous officer did not consider there was any harm to the wider character of the area, the landscape or the historic environment" (p.5). It cites no heritage policy of the Framework.
• Self-build. The October 2024 position statement "identifies a surplus of self build plots. However a condition can ensure the proposed dwelling is constructed and occupied as a self-build property" (p.5).

Planning balance

S4(1). One dwelling, given substantial weight, against no identified harm. "I conclude that the benefits of approving the scheme would not be substantially outweighed by any adverse effects" (p.7).

What made the difference

Nothing was in dispute: the scheme had been permitted nine months earlier and the changes were minor. The interest is in the route. Under the Core Strategy the site is countryside; under the Framework the officer treated the village as a settlement because of what is on the ground.

Transferable points

• SDC accepts that a village with no boundary in the development plan can be a settlement as the NPPF defines it, judged on built form and facilities (p.4). This follows the first sentence of the Annex B definition, which the report's quotation leaves out: a settlement "Includes cities, towns, villages and other predominantly built-up areas".
• The officer quoted the final sentence of the definition, that settlements "also exclude villages which lie within and are defined as part of the Green Belt in the development plan" (p.4). The report lists no Green Belt constraint for the site, so the exclusion did not apply. The first-pass harvest log found no SDC report on a Green Belt village that referred to that sentence; stratford-26-01614-FUL now does.
• A tier in the council's settlement hierarchy ("all other settlement") did not decide the route. The officer went to the Annex B definition (p.4).
• Compare Priors Hardwick, another village with no boundary, treated as a settlement in one SDC report and as countryside in another (stratford-26-01211-FUL, stratford-26-00898-FUL).
• A conservation-area site was approved with no Framework heritage policy cited and no fresh assessment, on the strength of the earlier officer's finding (p.5).

Policy findings

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

Key facts

• Resubmission of 25/01232/FUL, permitted 21 Dec 2025; the changes are a larger red line to the east, revised rooflights on the outbuilding and revised landscaping at the entrance
• Stretton-on-Fosse is an "all other settlement" under CS.15 Part F, with no Built-Up Area Boundary, so the Core Strategy applies the countryside policy AS.10
• The officer listed dwellings, a pub, a church, a cemetery and two bus stops as the village's facilities
• The building's earlier use had "long since ceased"; conversion complied with AS.10(c), CS.20, CS.22 and CS.25
• Self-build secured by condition; the council's position statement of October 2024 shows a surplus of self-build plots
• No objections; Parish Council raised no objection; county highway authority raised no objection subject to conditions
• No development plan policy is given reduced weight under Annex A; CS.9, CS.4 and CS.6 are called materially consistent

Related decisions

• stratford-26-01211-FUL
• stratford-26-00898-FUL

Sources

• apps.stratford.gov.uk

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.