Back in January last year, the developers at Knowle won their appeal against the District Council’s refusal to grant them planning permission:
Planning inspector gives go ahead for PegasusLife development of council’s Sidmouth HQ
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And earlier this month, the developers wanting to build an industrial estate next to Sidford won their appeal:
Multi-million pound Sidford Business Park plans granted on appeal in landmark ruling
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It seems the odds are quite good for developers to appeal:
However, too much reliance on the central government’s Planning Inspectorate means that the planning system at the local level is being undermined…
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Justine Greening MP for Putney said back in 2007:
There is no doubt that, out of all the processes that happen at a local level, planning is the one that people understand and will engage with. Many of us, as constituency MPs, will have had experience of planning applications… that are subsequently overturned by the planning inspectorate. They are the applications that annoy local people most.
There is plenty of evidence that when local decision making is overridden by a higher Government body, that is not taken well. We need to be careful that we do not remove decision-making powers from local boroughs unnecessarily.
Commons Chamber 27 February 2007 Volume 457
And in 2013, the on-line Planning Resource publication was asking:
New figures suggest a modest increase in appeal approvals for green belt schemes. Is rural protection really being weakened.
Is the green belt being loosened?
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This is a piece of Sidmouth’s green belt:
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Core Hill, Sidmouth © Chris J Dixon :: Geograph Britain and Ireland