Rear of 78 High Street, Tonbridge, TN9 1JU

the redevelopment of the site to provide 36 retirement living apartments for older persons, with associated communal facilities, parking and landscaping

Authority: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: McGlone A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would make adequate provision for affordable housing, having regard to viability
whether the proposal would make adequate provision in respect of open space, parks and gardens, sports facilities, community learning, library bookstock, social care and waste

What decided it

The proposal was found to comply with the development plan as a whole, secured adequate and policy-compliant contributions via the s106 agreement, and caused no identified harm, while delivering clear housing, economic and social benefits.

The benefits of the proposal — provision of specialist housing, freeing up existing stock, contribution to housing supply, effective use of brownfield land, and economic and social benefits — all weighed in favour, with no harms identified, and the proposal accorded with the development plan as a whole.

Framework references: 60, 62, 63, 65, 57

Plan policies cited: Policy CP17, Policy CP25, Policy OS3

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.