A set of Brown Edge stable blocks will need to be demolished after a retrospective planning application for the buildings was refused.

Biddulph Nub News reported in October how a planning application sought permission to retain the stable blocks in Brown Edge after they were built without planning permission.

The application, submitted by a Mr A Beardmore to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, sought permission for the retention of the stables on Green Belt land near Double Gates Nursery, Sytch Road.

The stables were first built in July 2019, with the applicant believing that they did not require planning permission.

After the district council notified the applicant of the need for planning permission, the application was submitted in the hopes of resolving the matter.

If a building is built without planning permission and retrospective permission is refused, councils can require the applicant to return the land to its previous state.

A planning statement by the applicant's agent, Rob Duncan, argued: "The two stable blocks constructed on the site are considered to constitute a sustainable and appropriate form of development within the Green Belt on the basis that they amount to appropriate facilities for outdoor recreation.

"The buildings are of a scale, massing, design and type of construction that is firmly in keeping with the rural character of the area within which they are located, and the development does not detract from the character and appearance of the area or the amenity of neighbouring residential occupiers. The proposal is also acceptable from a highway safety perspective.

"The Local Authority is therefore respectfully requested to support the proposal and grant planning permission to retain the stable blocks as constructed."

However, the application was refused by the council's planning officers this week on the grounds that it represented inappropriate development in the Green Belt.

The officers' decision notice stated: "The development comprises inappropriate development in the Green Belt as it does not comprise appropriate facilities for outdoor sport and recreation, it conflicts with one of the five purposes of including land in the Green Belt, namely encroachment and it affects the openness of the Green Belt.

"No very special circumstances have been identified to outweigh the harm to the Green Belt by way of inappropriateness and harm to openness.

"The development is visually prominent from the Public Right of Way as well as from longer distant views to the south. The development is harmful to the character of the countryside and comprises a prominent intrusion."

To view the application and its decision in full, visit the district council's website here.