®Planning appeal decision
Land north of Lower Road, Eastchurch, ME12 4DE
Outline application for the development of up to 63 dwellings and all necessary supporting infrastructure including internal access roads, footpaths and parking, open space and landscaping, drainage, utilities and service infrastructure works. All detailed matters are reserved for subsequent approval except for access to Lower Road
- Authority
- Swale Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Pattison B
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, with particular regard to the effect on the landscape
- local services and infrastructure
- the integrity of the Swale and Medway Estuary Special Protection Areas and Ramsar sites
What decided it
The absence of a 5-year housing land supply in Swale, combined with the substantial housing delivery and affordable housing benefits, outweighed the moderate landscape harm and conflict with the development plan's spatial strategy.
The moderate adverse landscape and visual effects and conflict with Policies ST3 and ST6 were outweighed by the substantial benefits of delivering up to 63 homes (including 15% affordable housing), moderate economic benefits, moderate community benefits from open space and green infrastructure, and significant biodiversity net gain (30%), applying the tilted balance under NPPF paragraph 11(d) due to the lack of a 5-year housing land supply.
Framework references: 11, 83
Plan policies cited: Policy ST3, Policy ST6, Policy DM24, Policy CP7, Policy DM28, Policy DM6, Policy CP5, Policy CP6, Policy DM17
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.