Windy Bottom Sittingbourne Road, Detling, MAIDSTONE, ME14 3ES

Retrospective change of use of site to contractor depot and erection of new workshop and office buildings together with removal of unauthorised hardstanding, hard and soft landscaping and ecological enhancements

Authority: Maidstone Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: employment-industrial · Minor general industry/storage/warehousing
Inspector: Carpenter C

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside, including the landscape and scenic beauty of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (KD AONB)

What decided it

The substantial and irreversible harm to the character and appearance of the surrounding countryside and the landscape and scenic beauty of the Kent Downs AONB caused by the change of use and proposed development, which cannot be adequately mitigated by the proposed conditions and landscaping measures.

Framework references: 182, 48

Plan policies cited: SS1, SP17, DM1, DM30

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.