®Planning appeal decision
Moorcroft Place, Mapleton Road, Westerham, TN16 1PS
demolition of three outbuildings and replacement with single storey raised platform treehouse (part retrospective)
- Authority
- Sevenoaks District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- White P
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the development is inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies
- if the development is inappropriate, the effect of the proposed development on the openness of the Green Belt
- whether the development conserves and enhances the character of the Kent Downs National Landscape
- if the development is inappropriate, whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal
What decided it
The finding that the replacement structure fell within the Framework paragraph 154(d) exception (not materially larger than, and in the same use as, the buildings it replaced) meant it was not inappropriate development in the Green Belt.
As the development was found not to be inappropriate in the Green Belt and to conserve and enhance the National Landscape, no weighing of harm against very special circumstances was required, and the appeals were allowed in accordance with the development plan.
Framework references: 154, 57
Plan policies cited: CS Policy LO1, ADMP Policy GB3, ADMP Policy EN5
Judgments cited: Gravesham BC v SSE & O’Brien [1982] 47 P&CR 142; [1983] JPL 307; Uttlesford DC v SSE & White [1992] JPL 171; Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, R (on the application of) v Epping Forest District Council & Anor (Rev 1) [2016] EWCA Civ 404
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.