Land off Swanstree Avenue, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 4UU

Authority: Swale Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Hanna P
Postcode: ME10 4UU

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect on the character and appearance of the area, with particular regard to the effect on the landscape and an Important Local Countryside Gap (ILCG) designation
whether the site is a suitable location for the proposed development having regard to the Council's development strategy and national policy
the effect on agricultural land

What decided it

The Council's inability to demonstrate a five year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance, under which the identified harms did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of the proposal.

The moderate harms to landscape/ILCG, locational policy conflict, loss of BMV agricultural land, and less-than-substantial heritage harm did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the substantial benefits of market and affordable housing delivery together with moderate economic benefits and other limited benefits, so the tilted balance favoured granting permission

Framework references: 174, 199, 202, 11, 56, 57

Plan policies cited: ST1, ST3, ST5, DM8, DM14, DM24, DM25, DM31, CP7

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.