Meadow Cottage School Lane, Higham, ROCHESTER, ME3 7JG

a first-floor rear extension

Authority: Gravesham Borough Council
Appeal type: householder · Householder (HAS)
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Chukwujekwu I

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the conditions in dispute are necessary and reasonable (Appeal A)
whether the proposal is inappropriate development for the purposes of development plan policy and the Framework (Appeal B)
the effect of the development on openness of the Green Belt (Appeal B)
the effect of the development upon landscape character and the appearance of the host dwelling (Appeal B)
if the development is inappropriate, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to very special circumstances necessary to justify the development (Appeal B)

What decided it

Appeal A was allowed because conditions 6 and 7 failed to comply with Framework paragraph 56 requirements for necessity and reasonableness, being duplicative and overly restrictive given the existing removal of permitted development rights; Appeal B was dismissed because the cumulative extensions would constitute disproportionate and inappropriate development in the Green Belt with no very special circumstances to justify it.

Framework references: 11, 56, 142, 143, 154, 155

Plan policies cited: Policy C13, Policy CS02, Policy CS12, Policy CS19

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.

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.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

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