Ashford Golf Complex, Etchden Road, Great Chart, ASHFORD, TN23 3BZ

the erection of 10 detached dwellings together with all necessary infrastructure

Authority: Ashford Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Beeby C

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposed development would provide a suitable site for housing, having regard to the proximity of services and its effect on the appearance of the area
Whether the proposed development would result in the loss or deterioration of an irreplaceable habitat and, if so, whether there are wholly exceptional reasons and whether a suitable compensation strategy exists

What decided it

The substantial locational and landscape/visual harm from siting suburban-style housing adjacent to a high-sensitivity ancient woodland landscape significantly and demonstrably outweighed the limited housing and affordable housing benefits.

The substantial harm from unsuitable countryside location and landscape/visual impact outweighed the limited benefits of housing delivery and affordable housing contribution, so the adverse impacts significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits under the tilted balance.

Framework references: 11, 180, 186

Plan policies cited: Policy COM3, Policy HOU5, Policy ENV3a, Policy SP1, Policy SP2, Policy SP6, Policy ENV1, Policy HOU1, Policy S41, Policy S42

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.