Mousehole Fishing Lakes, Maidstone Road, Nettlestead, MAIDSTONE, ME18 5HR

erection of detached annexe as part of existing fishery enterprise

Authority: Maidstone Borough Council
Appeal type: householder · Householder (HAS)
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Kean G

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal is inappropriate development in the Green Belt
The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the main dwelling and wider area
Whether the proposal would be acceptably sited in an area of high flood risk
If inappropriate development, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness and any other harm is clearly outweighed by other considerations, including any functional need for it, so as to amount to very special circumstances necessary to justify the development

What decided it

The proposal constitutes inappropriate development in the Green Belt that would cause material harm to openness and character, with no very special circumstances demonstrated to justify it, and it fails the flood risk exception test for more vulnerable development.

Framework references: 137, 144, 145, 149, 148, 164

Plan policies cited: Policy SP17, Policy DM1, Policy DM30, Policy DM32, Policy DM34

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.

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