®Planning appeal decision
Kooland, Rochester Road, Burham, Aylesford, Kent, ME1 3SN
the change of use of land to use as a residential caravan site for one Gypsy family with two caravans, including no more than one static caravan/mobile home together with laying of hardstanding and erection of ancillary amenity building
- Authority
- Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Written Representations
- Development
- caravan-gypsy · Minor traveller and caravan pitches
- Inspector
- Sylvester G
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area, with particular regard to the landscape and scenic beauty of the Kent Downs National Landscape
- Whether the appeal proposal is intentional unauthorised development
What decided it
The magnitude of harm to the Kent Downs National Landscape as a protected landscape, which would be significantly reduced by limiting the permission to a temporary 3-year period, thereby allowing the benefits of meeting unmet gypsy and traveller need and protecting the family's best interests to outweigh the temporary harms.
The significantly harmful impact on the landscape and scenic beauty of the KDNL (great weight against) was outweighed by the unmet need for gypsy and traveller pitches, the personal circumstances of the appellant and his family including the best interests of the child, the lack of alternative sites, and modest biodiversity gains (high-order weight in favour), but only when the permission was limited to a temporary 3-year period, which reduced the harm to a temporary and reversible effect.
Framework references: 189, 135, 11
Plan policies cited: CS Policy CP1, CS Policy CP7, CS Policy CP20, CS Policy CP24, DPD Policy SQ1
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.