Land part of Wrotham Water Farm, off London Road, Wrotham, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN15 7SG

an outline application (all matters reserved except access) for construction of a secure 24-hour truck stop facility for up to 200 HGVs incorporating fuel station; amenity building of up to 1100 sqm; creation of a new access to A20 via roundabout; landscaping and other associated works

Authority: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: employment-industrial · Major retail and services
Inspector: Holden S

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the proposal would conserve and enhance the Kent Downs National Landscape (KDNL)
whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt
the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area

What decided it

The compelling and demonstrable unmet need for secure lorry parking and welfare facilities on the Strategic Road Network outweighed the identified harms to the KDNL setting, character and appearance, and heritage assets.

The very substantial and significant economic, social and environmental benefits of meeting the unmet need for lorry parking outweighed the great weight attached to the cumulative limited and localised harms to the KDNL setting, character and appearance, and the less than substantial harm to the setting of two listed buildings.

Framework references: 11, 57, 58, 81, 110, 114, 115, 143, 154, 155, 189, 190, 215

Plan policies cited: Policy CP3, Policy CP7, Policy CP24, Policy SQ1

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.