Orchard View, Eastling Road, Eastling, Kent, ME13 0AN

Siting of 2 x mobile shepherds huts 2.7m wide x 5.0 m long on existing paddock and the installation of a septic tank and related works to be used as holiday lets. Planting of wild meadow on existing site

Authority: Swale Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: leisure-sport · Change of use
Inspector: Goldberg V

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the countryside including whether it would conserve and enhance the landscape and scenic beauty within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
the provision of Grade II (best and most versatile) agricultural land

What decided it

The unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the countryside and failure to conserve and enhance the landscape and scenic beauty within the AONB, combined with the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land, significantly outweighed the limited socio-economic benefits of the scheme.

Framework references: 88, 89

Plan policies cited: Policy ST1, Policy ST3, Policy DM3, Policy DM14, Policy DM24, Policy DM31

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.