®Planning appeal decision
The Nurseries, Pralls Lane, Matfield, TONBRIDGE, TN12 7DX
proposed replacement of former farm office and garage (which benefit from planning permission for residential conversion) with a detached single dwelling, together with car parking provision and landscaping
- Authority
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Lawrence E
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the appeal site is in a suitable location for housing, with regard to adequate access to services
- The effect of the proposal on the rural landscape and the character of the countryside
What decided it
The material and unacceptable harm to rural character and appearance, combined with the location's unsuitability for housing due to lack of accessible services and reliance on private vehicles, outweighed the modest housing supply benefit in the planning balance.
The adverse impacts of granting planning permission (harm to rural character and conflict with development plan policies) significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits (modest housing supply contribution and economic/social support) when assessed against the policies in the Framework taken as a whole, and the presumption in favour of sustainable development was not applied.
Framework references: 8, 9, 47, 11, 130
Plan policies cited: LP Policy LBD1, LP Policy EN1, LP Policy EN25, LP Policy H13, CS Policy 1, CS Policy 3, CS Policy 4, CS Policy 14, CS Policy C5
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.