Land north of Merryboys, Merryboys Road, Cliffe Woods, ME3 7TP

a 5 bedroom dwelling with ancillary stables and associated landscaping

Authority: Medway Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Douglas L

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the appeal site would be a suitable location for housing, with regard to the development plan
the effect of each proposal on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The significant and long-lasting harm to landscape character and appearance caused by suburbanising a rural setting significantly and demonstrably outweighed the modest benefits of housing supply and economic gains, even under the tilted balance triggered by the Council's inability to demonstrate a 5-year housing land supply.

The adverse impacts of suburbanisation and harm to landscape character and appearance (assigned significant weight) significantly and demonstrably outweighed the modest benefits of housing supply, economic benefits and potential sustainability features (assigned moderate weight), when assessed against the Framework taken as a whole.

Framework references: 11, 56

Plan policies cited: Saved Policy BNE25, Saved Policy S1, Saved Policy S2, Saved Policy H11, Saved Policy BNE1, Saved Policy BNE47

Judgments cited: Julian Wood v SSCLG, Gravesham Borough Council [2015] EWCA Civ 195

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.