Field - barn, Stocks Green Road , Hildenborough, Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 8AY

change of use to agricultural repairs and auto repairs instead of lambing as barn has been used

Authority: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: employment-industrial · Change of use
Inspector: Miles H

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and any relevant development plan policies
The effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
Whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The development fails to preserve the openness of the Green Belt and introduces inappropriate commercial uses that conflict with the rural character, and no very special circumstances exist to justify this harm.

Framework references: 148, 149, 150

Plan policies cited: Policy CP3, Policy CP24, Policy SQ1, Policy DC4

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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What an account adds

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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.

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