Fifield Lodge, School Lane, Borden, SITTINGBOURNE, ME9 8JS

a total of four handmade timber glamping pods for guests along with recycling/waste, cycle store area and a shower/toilet and communal kitchen block. One parking bay per pod is proposed, with an existing entrance and parking/turning area. Each guest pod will have a small area of decking to the front

Authority: Swale Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: leisure-sport · Minor retail and services
Inspector: Wilkinson F

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the development would be in an appropriate location with regard to the development strategy for the area and the character and appearance of the area
the effect of the development on the living conditions of nearby residents with regard to disturbance

What decided it

The site's location within the domestic curtilage of an existing holiday business, combined with strong visual containment from surrounding trees and boundary features, meant the development would not harm the character and appearance of the countryside or undermine the Important Local Countryside Gap policy.

Framework references: 8, 80, 84, 57

Plan policies cited: Policy ST3, Policy ST1, Policy DM3, Policy DM25, Policy DM14

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.