Deanshanger: One Approved, Two Refused, and All Roads Lead to Bristol

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Planning Committee sat from 10am and finished the Deanshanger applications at 4pm. They then carried on for another 90 minutes on other applications. The meeting starts here on YouTube

The outcomes

What happens next

Catesby (190). They can press ahead. They now have 18 months to submit the detailed plans.

Manor Oak (67). They have 6 months from the date of the decision notice to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol.

Davidsons (174). This one has an extra step. WNC must write to the Secretary of State to ask whether she wishes to call it in. WNC cannot issue the Decision Notice until she has decided, and she has 21 days to do so.

  • If she calls it in, the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol considers it and makes a recommendation. She can accept or reject that recommendation, and the final decision on the 174 homes is hers. If she approves, permission is granted. If she agrees with WNC and refuses, there is no further right of appeal.
  • If she doesn’t call it in, WNC issues the refusal Decision Notice with its reasons. Davidsons then have 6 months to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in Bristol.

All roads lead to Bristol.

Five year land supply

Much of the debate centred on this. Government gives each council a housing target. The council must then show a rolling supply of deliverable permissions covering five years. If the target is 1,000 a year, that means 5,000 deliverable permissions, plus a buffer of 5 to 10%.

WNC cannot show that supply. On the last count it was 1,833 homes short.

This matters because, without a five year supply, national policy tells councils to look extremely favourably on sites adjoining settlements. In other words, outside the village boundary. The lines get torn up. Since the new National Planning Policy Framework in August 2026, this has become a permanent presumption in favour of sustainable development.

All three Deanshanger applications, and the Middleton Cheney one that followed, leaned on that shortfall to justify building outside the village confines. In Deanshanger that was 431 homes. That is why all of them were recommended for approval.

These were outline applications. They fix the access and say yes, you can build up to 190 homes in this field. The detailed stage, Reserved Matters, is where road layout, height, materials and style get decided.

A small win on timing

The original conditions gave the applicant 3 years to submit Reserved Matters, then 2 years to start on site. I argued that this did nothing for the 1,833 shortfall. Nothing would be built within five years, especially with WNC taking around 6 months to determine the second application.

The Committee agreed to cut the first period to 18 months and kept the 2 year start. I wanted 12 months and 12 months.

It doesn’t help Deanshanger, but it may help elsewhere. WNC should now be able to count some of these sites in its five year supply.

Why didn’t the Committee refuse all three?

Residents have asked me this. Working out what members are thinking is a fool’s errand, but I think the reasoning for some ran like this:

  • Without a five year supply, we have to accept something.
  • So pick the least worst.
  • The 190 is lower down and less prominent, so approve that.
  • Refuse the other two.
  • At appeal, argue that they approved the site they judged best. Approving all three would be more development than the village can absorb.

Time will tell whether the strategy works.

Finally, thank you to everyone from Deanshanger Parish Council, my fellow ward councillor, the residents and others who spoke, and everyone who helped deliver leaflets. You tried to ensure the character of the village is not damaged irreparably by inconsiderate planning decisions.