Land on the East Side of Western Road, Deal, CT14 6RX

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• The effect on nearby heritage assets, including the character and appearance of the Conservation Area
• Whether safe and suitable access would be provided, and any consequent effect on highway safety
• The effect on the living conditions of occupiers nearby, with particular reference to properties at 24-34 Western Road
• The effect on local trees
• Whether the proposal appropriately satisfies the sequential test in the Framework, in particular by demonstrating that no sequentially preferable sites are reasonably available in areas with lower risks of flooding

What decided it

The proposal fails to demonstrate safe and suitable access due to inadequate visibility and turning arrangements in the constrained alleyway location, and causes unacceptable harm to neighbouring living conditions through overlooking and privacy loss, which together significantly and demonstrably outweigh the modest housing benefit of one additional dwelling over the fallback position.

The adverse impacts of granting planning permission (highway safety and living conditions harm) significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits (housing delivery of one additional dwelling over the fallback 2021 permission), when assessed against the policies in the Framework taken as a whole