Meadgate Works, Nazeing
Demonstrating unmet need for commercial grey belt development
Maddox Planning acted for Lignacite Limited in securing planning permission at appeal for an operational extension to its concrete-block factory at Meadgate Works in Nazeing.
The proposal provides additional storage and loading space connected with the manufacture and distribution of concrete blocks. Epping Forest District Council refused the application on Green Belt and environmental grounds.
National policy changed after the refusal, introducing the Grey Belt route considered at the appeal. A central question was whether there was a demonstrable unmet need for the type of development proposed.
Planning Director Anthony Frendo had advised on the site since 2019 and gave planning evidence at the public inquiry. Maddox Planning did not rely simply on Lignacite’s desire to expand. We defined the proposal by its operational function and connected the need for additional storage with the wider need for construction materials.
Evidence showed that Lignacite produced an estimated 4.6% of concrete blocks supplied nationally in 2024. The development would increase storage capacity by approximately 43.5%, enabling longer production runs and less double handling.
The additional space could enable production of another 100,000 blocks each month. These were estimated to support approximately 450 homes annually when adjusted to reflect orders from housebuilders.
The Inspector accepted that the acute unmet need for housing created a corresponding requirement for the materials needed to build it. He concluded that it would be irrational to pursue a substantial increase in housing delivery without recognising the need to expand production of essential concrete blocks.
A condition restricted the development to storage and activities ancillary to the existing factory. This tied the permission to the operational need demonstrated and prevented unrelated speculative development.
The appeal was allowed subject to 18 conditions. Meadgate Works demonstrates that an unmet economic need case must move beyond an individual business requirement. It should define the development precisely, quantify its productive effect and connect that effect to an established wider public-interest need.