®Planning appeal decision
Land at Eccles, East and West of Bull Lane, Eccles, Kent, ME20 7EH
Planning appeal 3321880 at Land at Eccles, East and West of Bull Lane, Eccles, Kent, ME20 7EH (Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council) was allowed on 12 December 2023 by Inspector Board D, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The effect of the scheme on highway safety, having particular regard to reliability and operation efficiency of the Strategic Road Network.
Residential development of up to 950 dwellings (to be delivered in a phased and severable manner), provision of a mixed-use local centre (including Class E, F and C3 with potential for retirement homes) provision of land to accommodate a new primary school, replacement sports pitches with changing facilities; associated green infrastructure including landscaping, public open space, allotments, sustainable urban drainage systems, biodiversity enhancements; new accesses from Bull Lane; new access and road/cycleway/footpath link to New Court Road
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Board D
- Postcode
- ME20 7EH
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the scheme on highway safety, having particular regard to reliability and operation efficiency of the Strategic Road Network.
What decided it
Resolution of highway safety concerns through agreed mitigation, combined with the tilted balance arising from the Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply, meant the significant benefits of the scheme outweighed the limited harms identified.
The significant benefits of the scheme (up to 950 homes including 30% affordable housing, public open space, sports provision, biodiversity net gain, economic benefits) outweighed the less-than-substantial heritage harm, localised landscape harm and conflict with Policies CP14 and SQ1, tipping the balance in favour of granting permission.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- Policy CP14Policy CP16Policy CP2Policy CP7Policy CP10Policy CP17Policy CP23Policy CP24Policy CP25Policy SQ8Policy SQ1Policy NE1Policy NE2Policy NE3Policy NE4Policy OS1Policy OS2Policy OS3Policy CC3
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 11Paragraph 174Paragraph 126Paragraph 129
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 appliedThe 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.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Tonbridge and Malling
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2023
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- Allowed22 January 20263366031Land North East and South of 161 Wateringbury Road , East Malling , Kent, ME19 6JE
- Allowed21 January 20263371765Land Part of Mill Farm, North of 39 Mill Lane, Wateringbury, Kent, ME18 5PE
- Allowed5 December 20253373454The Woodman, Sweets Lane, East Malling, Kent, ME19 6JF
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.