®Planning appeal decision
Light Industrial Unit (Disused), Land Adjacent to Pebble Court Farm, Woodgate Lane, Borden, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 7QB
the conversion and change of use of existing detached disused and abandoned former light industrial workshop into a three bedroom dwelling (C3) and conversion and change of use of existing adjacent detached former associated office and store (previously hay barn) currently disused into a home office to be used for the dwelling occupier. Proposals include part demolition of existing commercial workshop and installation of a sewage treatment plant and EV charging point
- Authority
- Swale Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- De Freitas Terceiro P
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the suitability of the site for the proposal, having regard to local and national policy for the location of housing
What decided it
The site's location outside settlement boundaries with poor accessibility by sustainable transport modes, combined with failure to demonstrate that the buildings had been appropriately marketed for employment or community uses, rendered the proposal unsuitable for housing and in conflict with the development plan.
The substantial harm from locating housing in an unsustainable location outside settlement boundaries, contrary to the spatial strategy, significantly and demonstrably outweighed the limited benefits of delivering one dwelling and reusing vacant buildings.
Plan policies cited: Policy ST1, Policy ST3, Policy DM3, Policy DM14
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.