Agenda with Maps and Applications (21Mb) - pdf - Selby District ...

The Purposes of including Land in the Green Belt
The most important attribute of Green Belts is their openness and the five purposes of
including land in the Green Belt are of paramount importance to their continued protection.
The five purposes are defined by PPG2 as:
• to check the unrestricted sprawl of large built up areas
• to prevent neighbouring towns from merging
• to assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment
• to preserve the setting and special character of historic towns, and
• to assist in urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other
urban land
Although Green Belt policy does allow for buildings that are not inappropriate its main aim
is to keep the Green Belt free of built form. However, urban sprawl, the merging of towns
and encroachment does not arise only from developments at the periphery of the main
towns but also from the filling up of the countryside by built form. Any one development
may not result in a catastrophic loss in openness, encroachment or result in sprawl, but
collectively small, piece-meal development can erode openness over time, resulting in
sprawl and encroachment. In this instance the increase in built form within the Park
between Scarthingwell and the village of Barkston Ash can be viewed as a form of
encroachment and therefore contribute to the processes encouraging urban sprawl and
the coalescence of settlements. In this respect it is considered that the proposal would
conflict with the first, second and third purposes of including land within the Green Belt.
The fifth purpose of including land within Green Belts is to assist urban regeneration by
encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. As such there is an emphasis
on directing new development from Green Belt areas into existing urban areas. Given that
the nature and scale of the proposal, it is considered that the redevelopment of the existing
site, on a like for like basis would not prejudice this aim. However the current proposal
includes an additional 15 close care apartments, which constitute a substantial increase in
the accommodation. This additional accommodation could be alternatively provided within
an existing urban area. In this respect, this part of the proposal is considered to conflict
with the fifth purpose of including land within the Green Belt.
The Applicant’s Case for Very Special Circumstances
The applicants were encouraged by officers following the deferral to specifically address
the need to describe the ‘very special circumstances’ and it was suggested that this could
include a formal assessment of the effect on the listed building by a conservation architect,
a review of any case law in terms of whether the effect upon the listed building was
capable of contributing to very special circumstances, additional visual assessment and/or
photo montages and information to address the availability (or otherwise) of alternative,
less sensitive sites.
The statement of very special circumstances submitted refers to the development options
the applicants have addressed. These range from an essentially do nothing approach to
major renovation, relocation or rebuild (the latter being the current application).
On the second option, they say the prepared and costed schemes in attempting to give the
present building a viable future would not address the underlying problems of inefficient
nursing layout; poor internal environment or the unsustainable costs involved in a
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