Land Rear Of 10 Mill Lane Barnby Suffolk

1. 1.Permission is sought for the construction of a detached, 2 bedroom dwelling in the style of a cartshed on land situated between no's 10 and 11 Mill Lane, Barnby. Barnby and North Cove is a larger village identified at policy WLP7.1 of the Adopted Waveney Local Plan (2019) capable of accommodating 50 new dwellings during the Plan period either through sites allocated for new housing, or new windfall housing. Whilst the principle of new residential development on land contained within the settlement boundary of Barnby and North Cove located towards the front of the site is acceptable at policies WLP1.1 and WLP1.2 of the Adopted Waveney Local Plan (2019), the rear section of the application site is located outside the settlement boundary of Barnby and North, in an LEGAL ADDRESS East Suffolk House, Station Road, Melton, Woodbridge IP12 1RT POSTAL ADDRESS Riverside, 4 Canning Road, Lowestoft NR33 0EQ DC – REFULZ v.1 area defined as Countryside as shown in the Policies maps to the East Suffolk (Waveney) Local Plan ["The Local Plan"]. The proposal for a detached 3 bedroom private dwelling, does not meet any of the provisions within the Adopted Waveney Local Plan (2019) that seek to permit housing in the countryside contained in Policy WLP7.1, namely rural workers dwellings, affordable housing, or affordable housing adjacent to built up areas (policies WLP8.8, WLP8.6, WLP8.11). This site does not constitute a clearly identifiable gap within a built up area of a settlement within the Countryside, but would effectively infill a very narrow strip of land that is set back from the street frontage along Mill Lane, Barnby. As such, the site does not present as an identifiable gap within an otherwise built up frontage, and the provision of 1no. private dwelling, would have only limited social and economic benefits. In the absence of such conformity, the principle of residential development on this site runs contrary to the Adopted Waveney Local Plan (2019) including policies WLP1.1 WLP1.2, WLP7.1 and Policy WLP8.7 - that deals with small scale development in the countryside and seeks to allow limit development opportunities within rural settlements in the countryside that do not benefit from settlement boundaries. The Council is currently unable to demonstrate an up-to-date Local Plan and five-year supply of housing and therefore, paragraph 11 d i) of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024) is engaged. In respect of paragraph 11 d) of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024) the presumption in favour of development does not apply, even with the lack of a five-year housing land supply, where: i) the application of policies in this Framework that protect areas or assets of particular importance provides a strong reason for refusing the development. The impact on protected habitats and lack of appropriate mitigation is a clear reason for refusal under footnote 7 of paragraph 11 of the NPPF (2024) meaning that the presumption in favour of sustainable development would not apply in this case. Even if the presumption in favour of development were to apply, although the site is reasonably sustainable in that basic facilities and amenities could be accessed in the village and further beyond in the larger settlements of Beccles and Lowestoft, when considered against the benefits of this revised scheme for just a single dwelling, the adverse effects of the proposal significantly and demonstrably outweigh the harm when assessed against the policies in the Framework taken as a whole (paragraph 11 d ii). The development proposal is therefore contrary to policies WLP1.1 "Scale and Location of Growth" WLP1.2 "Settlement Boundaries", WLP7.1 "Rural settlement Hierarchy and Housing Growth" and Policy WLP8.7 "small Scale residential Development in the Countryside" of the East Suffolk Council - Waveney Local Plan (March 2019), The 'Housing in Clusters and Small Scale Residential Development' Supplementary Planning Document (2022), the National Planni
2. 2.The proposed new dwelling would be partly sited in a very narrow gap at only 8.3 metres wide at the narrowest point that widens at the rear to 19 metres and is tightly constrained by neighbouring properties either side at the front. This breaks from the general character of dwellings fronting the road, which have evolved overtime, as is seen along much of Mill Lane. This would result in a very cramped appearance to the site and the immediate locality that would negatively impact on the character and appearance of the area, being a contrived form of overdevelopment, encroaching into a backland site of designated countryside towards the rear of the plot. It would fail to integrate successfully with the general pattern of development in the area, which is already dense for the locality. The proposed new dwelling would wrap around the private rear garden of no. 10 and create a visually imposing structure and an unneighbourly form of development resulting in an unacceptable sense of enclosure and a loss of outlook from the private rear garden of the neighbouring property. Two bedroom windows are shown in the southwest elevation that would also result in overlooking towards the neighbour's private garden. The application is therefore contrary to policies WLP8.29 and WLP8.33 of the Adopted Waveney Local Plan (2019) and paragraph 135 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024), which seeks to secure development that is of a high standard of design, in keeping with the general character of the area and density of the surrounding area, and protects neighbouring amenity, and paragraph 198 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024), which seeks to ensure that new development is appropriate for the location as well as the sensitivity of the site or wider area to impacts that could arise from the development.
3. 3.The site is very tightly constrained by neighbouring properties on all sides. The very limited turning and manoeuvring space shown on the swept path analysis (drawing no.220210-CCL- XX-00—DR-C-9000 P01) is likely to result in conflict with neighbouring properties, with several properties utilising this shared driveway in order to exit onto Mill Lane, including at no's 9, 10 and 11 Mill Lane, Barnby. Furthermore, formal notice has not been served on all relevant landowners. This suggests that the access arrangements, site location plan and vehicle tracking is inaccurate and cannot be relied upon, as it would involve crossing third party land beyond the ownership of the applicant. As such, it is therefore concluded that safe and suitable access and parking arrangements could not be achieved for the proposed new dwelling, contrary to policies WLP8.21 and WLP8.33 of the Adopted Waveney Local Plan (2019).
4. 4.The development falls within the recreational disturbance Zone of Influence for the following Habitats Sites (European designated sites) in East Suffolk, as set out in the Suffolk Coast Recreational Disturbance Avoidance and Mitigation Strategy (RAMS), Benacre to Easton Bavents SPA and Benacre to Easton Bavents Lagoons (SAC). The Suffolk Recreation Avoidance Mitigation Strategy ("Suffolk RAMS") identifies that new housing development within the influence ("ZOI") of any designated European site in Suffolk will have a likely significant effect on the interest features of those sites through increased recreational pressure, both alone LEGAL ADDRESS East Suffolk House, Station Road, Melton, Woodbridge IP12 1RT POSTAL ADDRESS Riverside, 4 Canning Road, Lowestoft NR33 0EQ DC – REFULZ v.1 and in-combination with other housing in the ZOI. To mitigate this, a per-dwelling financial contribution is required to fund the Suffolk RAMS. Policy WLP8.34 seeks to support regulation 63 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations (2017) (as amended) where proposals that would cause a direct or indirect adverse effect on the integrity of Habitats Sites (either alone or in-combination with other plans or projects) will not be permitted. No planning obligation has been entered into by the applicant to deliver this financial contribution and, therefore, the Local Planning Authority cannot rule out a likely significant effect from the development proposal on the designated site(s). It therefore cannot be concluded that the development will not result in an adverse effect on the integrity of Habitats Sites and therefore the proposals are considered contrary to policy WLP8.34 of the Adopted Waveney Local Plan (2019) and Section 15 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2024).

From the council's decision notice.

Application type

Full Application

Scale / size

Small

Parish

Barnby

Date validated

10 December 2025

Last date for comments

15 January 2026

Target decision date

4 February 2026

Agent

Graham Nourse Planning Consultants Ltd

Agent address

3 Monet Square Lowestoft Suffolk NR32 4LZ

Statutory period

56 days

Documents

19