Merry Lees Billet Hill, Ash, SEVENOAKS, Kent, TN15 7HG

the Change of use of land to residential use, for one gypsy traveller family. Site to contain one static caravan, one touring caravan and parking for two associated vehicles without complying with a condition attached to planning permission Ref 17/00796/FUL, dated 21 July 2017

Authority: Sevenoaks District Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: caravan-gypsy · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Allen M

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt, and the effect on the openness of the Green Belt
Whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The personal health circumstances of the occupier and the best interests of the children living at the site carried considerable and decisive weight sufficient to outweigh the Green Belt harm.

The substantial weight given to Green Belt harm from inappropriate development was outweighed by the moderate weight given to unmet gypsy and traveller need and the considerable and decisive weight given to personal circumstances and the best interests of the children, resulting in very special circumstances justifying a further temporary permission.

Plan policies cited: Policy EN1

Judgments cited: Smith judgment

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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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.

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