Following three earlier instances where the Council fought off unsuitable development, East Cambridgeshire District Council ended 2020 by having a fourth planning battle in Witchford being ruled in its favour.

Over the past twelve months, the Council has fought off two big development appeals in Witchford for land between 27 and 39 Sutton Road and land North of 196-204 Main Street, as well as two legal challenges to the Witchford Neighbourhood Plan.

On the latest decision and the results prior, Councillor Anna Bailey, Leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “This is fantastic news for the residents of Witchford, for Witchford Parish Council and for the District Council.  In one particular case, we knew the Planning Inspectorate had simply got it wrong, and I am pleased that has proved to be the case.  We must be gaining a bit of a reputation at the Inspectorate by now!

“We have continued to stand up to these challenges in defence of our communities, in what feels like ongoing planning warfare.  ”I would like to express my thanks to the officers involved  for doing what is right for the village and standing up for the decisions we, and the Parish Council have made.

“This has taken a lot of determination and shows developers that we will stand up and defend inappropriate developments and legal challenges that may come our way.”

Witchford has been the subject of considerable speculative development proposals in recent years. However, after these victories together with the new Neighbourhood Plan for Witchford, the Council is in a much stronger position to resist any further speculative applications.