®Planning appeal decision
Blue Bird Tea Rooms, 79 Granville Road, St Margarets Bay, Kent, CT15 6DT
change of use from tearooms and holiday let, to provide holiday let unit and managers accommodation above
- Authority
- Dover District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- leisure-sport · Change of use
- Inspector
- Spencer D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the loss of the tearoom facility would have an unacceptably adverse impact on the local tourism economy, for users of nearby walking and cycling routes and for the local community
- Whether a permanent residential use (proposed managers accommodation) would be justified and sustainably located
- The effect of the appeal proposal on the character and appearance of the surrounding area, including the landscape and scenic beauty of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the special character of the South Foreland Heritage Coast
What decided it
The significant, unmitigated harm to the landscape character and scenic beauty of the Kent Downs AONB and South Foreland Heritage Coast arising from the domestication of the curtilage for permanent residential use.
The sustainability of the residential use and absence of tourism harm did not outweigh the significant landscape and AONB/Heritage Coast harm, so the balance tipped against the proposal.
Framework references: 84, 93, 100, 80, 56, 130, 174, 176, 178, 11
Plan policies cited: Policy DM1, Policy DM4, Policy DM15, Policy DM16, Policy CO5
Judgments cited: Braintree District Council v. SSCLG, Greyread Ltd and Granville Developments [2018] EWCA 610Civ
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.