®Planning appeal decision
Land north of the A20, Ashford Road, Hollingbourne, Kent, ME17 1XH
outline application for the erection a building for storage and distribution (Class B8 use) with a floorspace up to 10,788sqm (Gross External Area), ancillary offices, associated car parking, HGV parking, landscaping and infrastructure (All matters reserved except for access)
- Authority
- Maidstone Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- employment-industrial · Major general industry/storage/warehousing
- Inspector
- McCreery D
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Effects on the character and appearance of the area, including the setting of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
- Whether the proposal accords with local and national policy when regard is paid to the location of economic development
What decided it
The significant harm to the setting of the Kent Downs AONB combined with significant conflict with the development plan's locational strategy for economic development (Policy SS1) outweighed the benefits of the scheme.
The significant weight given to economic need and social/economic benefits, together with limited/moderate weight to biodiversity net gain and BREEAM standard, did not outweigh the significant departure from the development plan's employment location strategy and the significant harm to the setting of the AONB.
Framework references: 180, 186, 48, 182, 85, 87, 11
Plan policies cited: Policy SS1, Policy SP17, Policy SP21, Policy DM30, Policy DM37, LPRSS1, LPRSP11(B), LPRSP9, LPRSP11(A), LPRSP11, LPRQ&D4
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.