®Planning appeal decision
Land at New Green Farm, Green Farm Lane, Shorne Gravesend, Kent, DA12 3HL
erection of a 4-bedroom detached dwelling to provide accommodation for the farm manager and their family, with associated landscaping, biodiversity enhancements and drainage infrastructure
- Authority
- Gravesham Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- agricultural · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Murray D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether there is an essential and long-term agricultural need for the new dwelling which would constitute very special circumstances
- The effect on the openness of the Green Belt
- The effect on the character and appearance of the countryside landscape
- Whether the proposed site for the dwelling is a sustainable location
- Whether the loss of grade 1 agricultural land is justified
- The effect on the Thames Estuary and Marshes Special Protection Area (TEM SPA)
What decided it
The scale and remote siting of the proposed dwelling failed to meet the paragraph 84(a) exception, causing Green Belt and landscape harm that was not clearly outweighed by the agricultural need, so very special circumstances were not established.
Substantial weight was given to the harm to the Green Belt by inappropriateness and the additional harm from the scale and siting of the dwelling, which the other considerations (business investment, succession planning) did not clearly outweigh, so very special circumstances did not arise.
Framework references: 84, 180
Plan policies cited: Policy C10, CS Policy CS 12
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.