Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Dismissed21 February 20243318941

Babylon Farm, Babylon Lane, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 0EG

Planning appeal 3318941 at Babylon Farm, Babylon Lane, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 0EG (Maidstone Borough Council) was dismissed on 21 February 2024 by Inspector Carpenter C, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: the effect of the caravan on the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside.

I wish to be allowed to maintain a static caravan in my parents field, this originally was a temporary solution, to covid related housing issues for myself and partner, but now my aging mother and father require me to maintain the land and take over care of the horses. I believe it will require change of use of the land. The land is yard space and has not been used to grow/harvest any for of crop for 20 years

Authority
Maidstone Borough Council
Appeal type
minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Written Representations
Development
residential · Change of use
Inspector
Carpenter C
Postcode
TN12 0EG

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • the effect of the caravan on the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside
  • whether the countryside location is suitable for new residential development
  • whether the caravan represents an acceptable form of development having regard to its flood zone location and the provisions of the Framework
  • whether any conflict with the development plan would be outweighed by other material considerations

What decided it

The development failed to satisfy the flood risk exception test required by the Framework for highly vulnerable uses in Flood Zone 2, and this harm could not be adequately mitigated even with a temporary consent.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy SP17Policy DM1Policy DM30Policy DM33Policy SS1
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 84Paragraph 170Paragraph 171Paragraph 173

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

14 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision
An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter
Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.
Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app
Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.
Start your free trial

More decisions in Maidstone Borough Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2024

  1. Dismissed29 October 20266010536
    21 Tasker Close, Bearsted, Maidstone, ME15 8NZ
  2. Allowed27 October 20266015190
    Little Southernden, Southernden Road, Headcorn, TN27 9LL
  3. Allowed27 October 20266011721
    Loxley House, Gravelly Bottom Road, Kingswood, Maidstone, ME17 3NT
  4. Allowed27 October 20266011076
    Little Southernden, Southernden Road, Headcorn, TN27 9LL
  5. Allowed26 October 20266010539
    Land Rear Of 58 Church Street, Boughton Monchelsea, Maidstone, ME17 4HN

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.