®Planning appeal decision
Land at former Court Lane Nurseries, Court Lane, Hadlow, TN11 0RF
Full planning application for the erection of 57 residential dwellings (Use Class C3) including affordable housing provision, a new children’s day nursery and pre-school (Use Class E) alongside hard and soft landscaping including access, car parking, public open space, SuDS, and associated infrastructure
- Authority
- Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Dawe A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect of the proposed development on the Green Belt
- the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the surrounding area
- the effect of the proposed development on BMVAL
- whether or not acceptable provision would be made for various infrastructure and affordable housing through planning obligations
- whether any harm to the Green Belt by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm resulting from the proposal, is clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances necessary to justify the proposal
What decided it
The site's grey belt status meaning the development was not inappropriate in the Green Belt, combined with the lack of a five-year housing land supply engaging the tilted balance, meant the substantial housing and other benefits were not significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the moderate/limited harms identified.
The substantial benefits of housing delivery, affordable housing, nursery provision and economic benefits, together with significant weight from Golden Rules compliance, were not significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the moderate harm to character and appearance and limited harm from loss of BMVAL, so the balance under paragraph 11(d)(ii) favoured granting permission.
Framework references: 11, 55, 58, 66, 67, 110, 115, 143, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 187, 212, 213
Plan policies cited: Policy CP3, policy CP24, policy SQ1, policy CP17, policy CP25, policy OS3, policy SQ8, policy CP1, policies NE2 and NE3
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.