The Retreat, Upper Harbledown, CANTERBURY, CT2 9AY

erection of 2no. Residential Dwellings, together with associated garaging to existing property and new properties, and landscaping

Authority: Canterbury City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Pattison B

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the site is a suitable location for the proposal having regard to local and national planning policy, and the accessibility of the site to services, employment opportunities and facilities
The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the local area with particular regard to the local landscape and the countryside as a whole
The effect of the proposal on the integrity of the features of European nature conservation sites situated at Stodmarsh, with particular regard to nutrient neutrality

What decided it

The absence of secured mitigation measures to ensure nutrient neutrality at the Stodmarsh Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation, combined with the site's unsuitability for residential development in an unsustainable location and harmful effects on landscape character.

Framework references: 11, 180

Plan policies cited: Policy SP1, Policy SP4, Policy HD4, Policy DBE3, Policy LB5, Policy LB6

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.