®Planning appeal decision
Four Square Oast, Old Hay, Brenchley, Kent, TN12 7DG
the repair and reinstatement of a four kiln former Oast House
- Authority
- Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Other minor developments
- Inspector
- Sylvester G
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the use of the property has been abandoned, such that the proposal is for a new build dwellinghouse
- If the proposal is for a new dwellinghouse, whether the location of the proposed development would be appropriate for new housing, with particular regard to accessibility to local facilities and services
- The effect of the development on biodiversity
What decided it
The proposal's conflict with the development plan as a whole, combined with the absence of ecological survey evidence and the unsustainable location requiring heavy reliance on private vehicles, meant that the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighed the limited benefits even under the Framework's presumption in favour of sustainable development.
The limited benefits of housing supply, heritage replication, environmental reuse, and character enhancement were outweighed by the conflict with sustainable development policies, the unsustainable location requiring private car reliance, the absence of protected species survey evidence, and the conflict with the development plan as a whole.
Framework references: 11, 104, 105, 152, 179, 180
Plan policies cited: Policy H13, Policy LBD1, Core Policy 14, Core Policy 4, Core Policy 5, Core Policy 6, Policy EN25
Judgments cited: Iddenden v SSE [1972] 1 WLR 1433; The Trustees of Castell-y-Mynach Estate v Taff-Ely BC [1985] JPL 40
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.