Unit 1 and 2 The Homestead, Gravelly Bottom Road, Kingswood, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 3NU

demolition of existing light industrial/commercial building and the erection of a three-storey block of 24no. flats with landscaping

Authority: Maidstone Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Johnson W

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether or not the proposed development benefits from the provisions of Schedule 2, Part 20, Class ZA of the GPDO
whether the transport and highways impacts, provision of natural light for habitable rooms, impact to neighbour amenities, and the design and external appearance of the proposed building is appropriate in its context

What decided it

The remains on site following the arson attack did not constitute a 'building' for the purposes of Class ZA of the GPDO, as they lacked the essential characteristics of walls, roof, and permanence.

Judgments cited: Hughes v SSETR & South Holland DC [2000] JPL 826; Trustees of Castell-y-Mynach Estate v SSW [1985] JPL 40; Iddenden v SSE [1972] 1 WLR 1433; [1973] JPL 38; St Peter the Great, Chichester [1961] 2 All ER 513; Cardiff Rating Authority v Guest Keens [1949] 1 KB 385; Barvis Limited v Secretary of State for the Environment [1971] 22 P & CR 710; Smolas v Herefordshire Council [2021] EWHC 1663 (Admin); New World Payphones Ltd v Westminster CC [2019] EWCA Civ 2250; Hibbit v SSCLG & Rushcliffe BC [2016] EWHC 2853 (Admin); Ben R Palmer v The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs 2006; Carter and Another v Secretary of State for the Environment and Another EWC 1994 W.L.R. 1212

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.