North Court Fruit Farm, Lower Lees Road, Old Wives Lees, Canterbury, CT4 8AZ

full planning application for installation of a solar farm, including photovoltaic panels, substations, inverters, maintenance tracks, security fencing, cameras, landscaping and associated works

Authority: Ashford Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Kirby R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the proposal on the landscape character of the area, including the setting of the Kent Downs National Landscape
the effect of the proposal on the setting of nearby designated heritage assets
the effect of the proposal on ecology
if harm is identified, whether or not there are material considerations to outweigh this

What decided it

The totality of harm to landscape character, the setting of the Kent Downs National Landscape, the setting of designated and non-designated heritage assets, and unresolved ecology concerns was not outweighed by the renewable energy benefits, and the proposal conflicted with the development plan as a whole.

Framework references: 161, 168, 187, 189, 212, 216

Plan policies cited: Policy SP1, Policy ENV10, Policy ENV3a, Policy ENV3b, Policy ENV5, Policy ENV13, Policy SP6, Policy ENV1

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.