Case Studies
One decision, followed all the way through. Each case study takes a single site, appeal or scheme and traces exactly how the rules played out: what was proposed, what the evidence said, who decided, and what it means for the next one. The system is easiest to understand where it has already happened.
Counted Before It's Built
Cotswold District Council says it is in a housing emergency, and that emergency is the reason 150 homes may be built on a sensitive field in Lechlade. The same Council has already written this growth into its own forward plan, before the application to build it has been decided. This is an account of what the developer's own documents say, and what the Council has done with them, as the application file stood in late June 2026.
A unanimous refusal, overturned by the tilted balance.
Refused by the councillors, the officers and the council's own evidence, then granted outline permission for up to 54 homes at appeal, where the tilted balance set the local plan aside.