®Planning appeal decision
Land West of Station Road North, West Malling, ME19 6HN
the erection of a care home (within use Class C2) including parking, access, landscaping and other associated works
- Authority
- Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- community-institutional · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Jack C
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the development on the significance of heritage assets, including St Mary's Abbey and the West Malling Conservation Area
- The effect of the development on the character and appearance of the area
- If there would be harm in relation to the significance of the conservation area or any listed buildings, whether any public benefits of the proposal would outweigh that harm
What decided it
The substantial public benefits from the provision of 70 care beds addressing identified elderly care needs in the area outweighed the less than substantial harm to heritage assets and moderate harm to character and appearance.
The less than substantial harm to heritage assets and moderate harm to character and appearance were outweighed by the substantial public benefits from elderly care provision, job creation, and the freeing-up of underoccupied homes, together with the equivalent housing supply contribution in the context of a shortfall in five-year housing land supply.
Framework references: 199, 202
Plan policies cited: Policy SQ1 of the Managing Development and the Environment Development Plan Document 2010, Policy CP24 of the Tonbridge and Malling Core Strategy 2007, Policy CP14 of the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Core Strategy 2007
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.