Castle Hill Restaurant with Rooms & Event Venue

Planning application No. 2018/93591 – Castle Hill Restaurant with Rooms & Event Venue
Comments made on behalf of Huddersfield Civic Society.

As a society, focused on the maintenance and improvement of civic pride and the protection of historic
structures important to the people of Huddersfield, we strongly believe that the debates about developments at the top of Castle Hill have gone on far too long.

Without doubt, Victoria Tower atop the Scheduled Iron Age Hillfort (known as Castle Hill) holds a very
special place in the hearts of Huddersfield residents. It is a symbol of our heritage and a well-loved spot to
visit and take in the surrounding views and reflect. It is also a destination of choice for visitors wishing to
sample our heritage and rural landscape. Tourism and visitor facilities should be focused on Huddersfield
Town Centre (as proposed in the Blueprint) or district centres, such as Almondbury and Honley, which already provide a range of pubs, restaurant and small hotels, support the wider business community, and have suitable provision for access by sustainable public transport.

With this in mind, we believe it incumbent upon us to scrutinise with care any proposals which affect this
valued historic location. In this regard, we detail below our understanding of planning policy relevant to what is recognised as new build development, in the Green Belt, within the curtilage of the listed Victoria Tower, physically built into key features of the Scheduled Motte and Bailey Iron Age Hillfort.

Our conclusion, supported by the analysis below, is that the current proposal (together with its prior iterations) constitutes inappropriate development in accordance with NPPF13 para 145 and is not justified under the claimed ‘very special circumstances’ of NPPF13 para 145 (b) on the basis that the ‘inappropriate development and other harm’ is not clearly outweighed by the claimed benefits as required by NPPF13 para 144.

Analysis of Planning Policy
LP56 New Build in Green Belt incorporates into the Kirklees Local Plan, the very narrow circumstances,
defined by National Planning Policy Framework (“NPPF13”) within which development can be undertaken
in the Green Belt. The fundamental aim of Green Belt policy being to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land
permanently open; the essential characteristics of Green Belt land being its openness and permanence.
Once Green Belts have been defined, local planning authorities are tasked with positively enhancing their
beneficial use, which includes looking for opportunities to:

  • Provide access
  • Provide opportunities for outdoor sport and recreation
  • Retain and enhance landscapes, visual amenity and biodiversity or
  • Improve damaged and derelict land

Development Proposals Affecting Green Belt:
The element of NPPF applicable to the proposed development is contained within Section 13 paragraphs 143- 145 and states:

143. Inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt and should not be approved except in very special circumstances (‘VSCs’).

144. When considering any planning application, Kirklees planning authority should ensure substantial
weight is given to any harm to the Green Belt. VSC’s will not exist unless potential harm to the Green Belt (by reason of inappropriateness or other harm)
resulting from the proposal, is clearly outweighed by claimed facilities provided within the development.
Clearly the threshold required to outweigh harm is intended to be very high.

145. Kirklees planning authority should regard the construction of new buildings as inappropriate in the
Green Belt subject to consideration of the narrow exception claimed in this application:
(b) the provision of appropriate facilities (in connection with the existing use of the land) for outdoor sport,
outdoor recreation, cemeteries and burial grounds and allotments; as long as the facilities preserve the
openness of the Green Belt and do not conflict with the purposes of including the land (Castle Hill) within the Green Belt.

Appropriate Green Belt Facilities:
As the principal objective of Green Belt policy is to maintain an open character by preventing development,
it follows that any new building/parking area (associated with an appropriate Green Belt use) should be no
more than is genuinely required to enable that use to be carried on. Reference to guidance and case law states that ‘appropriate facilities’ should:

Be genuinely required

  • Involve uses of land which preserve the openness of the Green Belt
  • Not conflict with the purposes of including the land (Castle Hill) in the Green Belt.

Examples offered in the guidance include small changing rooms or unobtrusive spectator accommodation
for outdoor sport, or small stables for outdoor sport and outdoor recreation. Each of these examples makes clear the construction envisaged is intended to be:

  • Directly (rather than indirectly) related to the outdoor activity
  • Limited in size, and
  • Dedicated to the provision of the facility (rather than containing an incidental element)

The development, for which approval is sought, represents: a 100 cover restaurant; bar; 6 bedrooms; and an 80sqm event facility; over 3 floors (2 sunken into the very heart of a scheduled Iron Age Hillfort) which is primarily: a commercial venture run for profit; not directly related to the outdoor activity; is not of limited size; and is not dedicated to the provision of the facility.

As such, the development:

  • Is not genuinely required – Current high visitor levels are achieved without the facility
  • Does not involve a use of land which preserves the openness of the Green Belt – Construction restricts openness and cannot be approved unless one of the VSC’s applies.
  • Conflicts with the purposes of including the land (Castle Hill) in the Green Belt – The purpose being the preservation of an historic landscape, a listed monument and a Scheduled Iron Age Hillfort of local, regional and national importance
  •  Is not directly related to the outdoor activity – The prime focus is provision of a commercial event facility
  •  Is not limited in size, an is not dedicated to the provision of the facility (rather than containing an incidental element) – less than 20% of the facility is directly provided for this purpose and only that on a shared basis.

Claimed ‘Very Special Circumstances’:
The supporting documentation acknowledges the application is subject to the VSCs test and claims that
facilities including provision of interpretation and education space, as well as for more basic physical needs
such as shelter, WC’s and refreshment could constitute those very special circumstances. Whilst this is
theoretically correct there needs to be a far greater emphasis on such facilities other than shared restaurant and event facilities.

The application also claims putting the development at the top of the hill will provide a presence which will
curb antisocial activity. Obviously, reduced vandalism and inappropriate behaviour can (in theory) form the
basis of justification for any development in a remote location. However, this criterion does not feature in
national policy for new build in the Green Belt. All this amounts to is a further public benefit which can, in
certain circumstances, justify harm to a listed or schedule structure but is irrelevant in respect of inappropriate new build in the Green Belt.

Provision of recreational amenities: The proposed layout comprises 6 bedrooms, a restaurant plus
supporting bar and is primarily aimed at a closed group of guests being restaurant drinkers and diners,
overnight guests and private event-based functions. Whilst there is an element of the development, provided for general visitors to the site, this comprises access to a restaurant, bar and toilet facilities on a nonexclusive basis. The bulk of visitors to Castle Hill are families out for a walk, looking for snacks, drinks, information, and toilet facilities. Very few visitors to the site are looking for a sit-down meal, a party or a bed! This application is primarily seeking to deliver facilities to a group who would not attend the site other than to make use of this new build facility.

Provision of an educational recreational/interpretation facility: The applicant also highlights the provision of an event space, within the new build property, as justifying approval of the overall application. Whilst the facility does have an independent access, this will only be available for specific educational events on a pre-booked basis. At other times this will be available to further the primary hospitality function of the proposed building. A cursory review of the application makes clear the concept is a multi-purpose room (with associated toilets), occupying around 15% of the overall building, to be made available for the education of groups of children and the general public (on a pre-booked basis) between the hours of 10:00 and 16:00. The application is silent on any charges.

Provision of Toilet facilities: Well over 100,000 people currently visit Castle Hill every year. The proposed
development incorporates an unspecified toilet facility to be shared with guests of the restaurant, bar and event facility. Whilst such facilities are welcome (given there are presently none on the site) this is unlikely to be commensurate with likely demand and does not fulfil the necessary NPPF13 requirement

In Conclusion:
Kirklees planning authority are required to ensure any claimed VSC clearly outweighs the inappropriateness of construction in the Green Belt and any related harm. As such, to reach a conclusion on whether a claimed VSC case can be accepted, any other harm introduced by the development has to be taken into account (as well as the inappropriateness of the new build) and the claimed VSC’s must clearly outweigh all these elements combined.

The introduction of the proposed new build development, into such a highly sensitive location of local,
regional and national importance, must therefore be weighed against the claimed VSC’s. Many areas of harm have been identified and articulated in the comments of both statutory consultees and concerned members of the general public. In the interests of avoiding repetition, we have simply listed the key areas of harm (as we see them) in the attached appendix.

Case law has considered and established that developers are not entitled to attach inappropriate development to an otherwise appropriate development and, through such alchemy, render the entire development as appropriate. Indeed, to do so would, over the passage of time, be severely detrimental to the objectives of Green Belt policy.

From the above analysis, the application does not meet what is intended to be a stringent test and as such this application is in breach of LP56 and NPPF Section 13 paragraphs 143-145 and must be rejected. A failure to refuse this application risks establishing a national precedent opening Green Belt across the UK to a ‘death by a thousand cuts’.