AN appeal against a council’s decision to refuse a 52 home development in Wickham Bishops has been thrown out by the planning inspector.

The planning application for 52 homes on land off Church Road was rejected by Maldon District Council in April 2016.

Developers MazDev appealed the decision in a bid to overturn the ruling, but the Planning Inspector Jo Dowling supported the council’s view.

Siding with the original refusal, she said: “Since the application was considered by the council they have adopted the Local Development Plan (LDP) and have a National Planning Policy Framework compliant supply of housing land.

“As a result I consider that I can give full weight to the policies contained within the LDP.”

Councillor Penny Channer, chairman of the planning and licensing committee at the council, said the decision showed why the LDP was so important.

Mrs Channer added: “This is a very positive decision. With an adopted LDP, the council is delighted to see full weigh being attributed to those policies.

“The reason we fought so hard to get the LDP adopted was to manage speculative developments within the district.

“The LDP sets out planning policies and identifies how land is used, determining what will be built where.”