Grove Park Farm, Maidstone Road, Hadlow, TONBRIDGE, Kent, TN11 0JL

Termination of use for site as 55 unit accommodation. Redevelopment to form 17 private residential dwellings following conversion of blocks A and C and demolition/ reconstruction of blocks B and D with associated hard and soft landscaping

Authority: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Shearing C

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies
whether the proposal would make an appropriate contribution to affordable housing
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 proposal would cause a considerable reduction in both the spatial and visual aspects of the Green Belt's openness and would not deliver an appropriate contribution to affordable housing, and these harms were not clearly outweighed by other considerations including the housing supply benefit.

the benefits of housing delivery and site improvements did not clearly outweigh the substantial harm to the Green Belt's openness and the harm arising from the absence of affordable housing provision

Framework references: 142, 154, 155, 11

Plan policies cited: Policy CP3, Policy CP17

Judgments cited: Turner v SSCLG & East Dorset Council [2016] EWCA Civ 466

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.

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