®Planning appeal decision
Hams Travel, London Road, Flimwell, WADHURST, TN5 7PL
Extension of coach yard, extension of existing coach workshop, provision of new staff room with offices and the provision of one 4-bed dwelling for manging owner
- Authority
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- residential · Minor general industry/storage/warehousing
- Inspector
- Chamberlain G
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposed dwelling would be in a suitable location, with particular reference to the spatial strategy in the development plan and the accessibility of services and facilities
- The effect of the proposed dwelling on the character and appearance of the area, including whether the proposal would conserve and enhance the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
What decided it
The essential functional need for the Manager to live close to the coach yard to sustain the business's 24-hour call-out service outweighed the conflict with the spatial strategy and the moderate harm to the AONB.
The cumulative benefits of enabling an essential rural worker's dwelling, supporting the rural economy and business survival, facilitating yard redevelopment and highway safety improvements, and a limited contribution to housing land supply outweighed the conflict with the spatial strategy, limited harm from car dependency, and moderate adverse harm to the AONB landscape, even affording great weight to AONB conservation.
Framework references: 80
Plan policies cited: Policy LBD1, Policy H9, Core Policy 4, Core Policy 5, Core Policy 6, Core Policy 14, Policy EN1, Policy EN25
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.