Former Lidl, Manor Drive, Kempston, MK42 7AH

specialist C2 use accommodation for the elderly consisting of apartments with care, communal facilities, parking and associated private amenity space

Authority: Bedford Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: community-institutional · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Wilkinson S

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the streetscene
The effect of the proposal on designated heritage assets
Whether the appeal scheme includes sufficient level of care as required by the Council's adopted policy for C2 Use Class for care accommodation
Whether the appeal scheme includes adequate provision for waste storage and collection

What decided it

The provision of 3 additional units of specialist elderly care accommodation secured by legal obligation, combined with less than substantial heritage harm outweighed by public benefits, and the material fallback position of the extant permission, justified allowing the appeal.

Framework references: 11, 57, 202, 203

Plan policies cited: Policy 28S, Policy 29, Policy 30, Policy 31, Policy 32, Policy 41S, Policy 49, Policy 60, Policy 89, Policy 94, Policy 95

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.