Landscape Impact and Residential Development in Countryside – Appeal Ref: APP/U2615/W/23/3330450
The appeal decision regarding Rose Farm Touring Park in Belton, Norfolk, was dismissed on 30 September 2024. This case explores how Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) informs decisions on residential conversions in areas with notable landscape designations.
The proposal aimed to change existing holiday accommodations to residential units for year-round occupancy, situated outside defined development boundaries in a rural setting. The Inspector’s analysis, aided by LVIA findings, focused on the development’s impact on the area’s rural character, visual amenity, and its alignment with sustainable location policies in the Great Yarmouth Local Plan.
The LVIA assessment highlighted that although the site already featured established buildings, the change from temporary holiday use to permanent residences would have broader visual and landscape implications. The Inspector noted that, unlike holiday use, which is sporadic and seasonal, permanent residential use entails year-round lighting, domestic paraphernalia, and increased traffic—factors that LVIA results showed would introduce a level of permanence incompatible with the rural landscape.
The LVIA findings also underscored that the area’s scenic character relies on its openness and limited human presence, characteristics that the proposed change would undermine. The LVIA concluded that the proposal would intrude on the Strategic Gap, an area maintained as open countryside to preserve the visual separation between Belton and neighbouring settlements. This conflict with the strategic landscape goals of maintaining rural separation and minimal visual disruption was pivotal in the Inspector’s decision.
Ultimately, the appeal was dismissed on grounds that the LVIA demonstrated adverse impacts on the rural landscape’s appearance and on policy objectives to limit permanent residential use outside designated settlement areas. This case underscores LVIA’s effectiveness in identifying both the visual and functional incompatibilities of residential expansions in protected landscapes, supporting the planning goal of maintaining the countryside’s character and openness.
