The Secretary of State has decided not to call in the planning application for 126 homes at Hawley Park Farm and has formally withdrawn the Section 25 holding notice. There is nothing now, presumably, stopping the Council to formally grant planning permission.

A very regrettable decision but I suppose it should have been foreseen. As this development will take the total number of homes in the SPA zone of influence above the ‘Cap’ then it can be argued that a new Appropriate Assessment should be carried out.