4 The Retreat, The Street, Doddington, Kent, ME9 0DB

the change of use from agricultural land to domestic garden

Authority: Swale Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Other minor developments
Inspector: Catcheside E

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the surrounding area, with particular regard to the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)

What decided it

The proposed development would cause significant harm to the character and appearance of the Kent Downs AONB through the encroachment of domestic activity into open countryside, visible from public vantage points, contrary to the development plan with no material considerations to outweigh this harm.

Plan policies cited: DM24, DM13

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.

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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.
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The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.

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