®Planning appeal decision
168 St Johns Hill, Sevenoaks, TN13 3PF
Planning appeal 3304067 at 168 St Johns Hill, Sevenoaks, TN13 3PF (Sevenoaks District Council) was dismissed on 19 June 2023 by Inspector Buchanan R, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the appeal site is a suitable location for the proposed development due to its effect, once built, on the internal or external living conditions of the existing or future occupants of houses opposite the site at Nos.10 to 22 Seal Road and on the future occupants of the flats, having regard to air quality and emissions from passing vehicles generating nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution.
erection of part 3/part 4 storey building containing 8 flats as affordable housing (5 x 1-bedroom & 3 x 2-bedroom flats) with associated cycle/refuse storage
- Authority
- Sevenoaks District Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Buchanan R
- Postcode
- TN13 3PF
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the appeal site is a suitable location for the proposed development due to its effect, once built, on the internal or external living conditions of the existing or future occupants of houses opposite the site at Nos.10 to 22 Seal Road and on the future occupants of the flats, having regard to air quality and emissions from passing vehicles generating nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution
What decided it
The development would cause serious, unacceptable harm to the living conditions of future occupants of the flats and existing occupants of nearby houses through exposure to NO2 pollution in an already poor air quality area, with proposed mitigation measures being unreliable and unduly oppressive.
The considerable benefits of housing delivery and affordable housing provision were substantially outweighed by the serious and unacceptable harm to living conditions from NO2 pollution, such that the presumption in favour of sustainable development did not apply.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy EN1Policy EN2Policy SP3
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
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The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.