Planning consent has been granted for an Extracare facility in the Solihull Green Belt, on the site of the Wyndley Garden Centre. In terms of Green Belt and openness the inspector concluded it would be inappropriate development.  He concluded that there would be a greater building volume than the existing development on site, but also took into account the reduced building footprint, and that the proposed more muted building materials would have an effect on the perception of openness, compared with the light tones of the existing buildings.  In terms of character and appearance he concluded “reasonably limited harm”.  The inspector found very special circumstances to weigh in favour of the appeal and concluded “ None of the benefits in this case are particularly unusual. However, they are very numerous and, significantly, several carry considerable individual weight such that collectively the benefits do clearly outweigh the totality of the harm.”  The decision can be read here.

• 
•