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Planning appeal decision

Allowed1 September 20253360089

Land On Either Side Of Vigo Lane And Wrens Road, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8LA

Planning appeal 3360089 at Land On Either Side Of Vigo Lane And Wrens Road, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8LA (Swale Borough Council) was allowed on 1 September 2025 by Inspector Baird G, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The landscape and visual impact of the proposal.

construction of a solar farm together with a control building, switch room, substations and compound, point of connection equipment, storeroom, access track, security measures, associated infrastructure and works, landscaping and biodiversity enhancements

Authority
Swale Borough Council
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Inquiry
Development
utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector
Baird G
Postcode
ME9 8LA

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • The landscape and visual impact of the proposal
  • The effect on the supply of agricultural land

What decided it

The substantial weight attached to the public benefits of clean energy generation and climate change mitigation, together with significant biodiversity net gain, clearly outweighed the identified landscape, visual and heritage harms.

The substantial/significant weight attached to public benefits (clean energy generation, climate change mitigation, biodiversity net gain, economic benefits) clearly outweighed the less than substantial heritage harm and the temporary, localised landscape and visual harms, tipping decisively in favour of allowing the appeal.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy ST 1Policy DM14Policy DM 24Policy DM 20Policy DM31Policy DM 28Policy DM 14 (8)
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 189Paragraph 187Paragraph 198Paragraph 215Paragraph 212Paragraph 161Paragraph 168

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

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More decisions in Swale

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025

  1. Allowed8 July 20263376221
    Land West Of Borden Lane, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8HR
  2. Allowed23 January 20263368586
    Jubilee Way, Faversham, Kent, ME13 8GD
  3. Allowed10 December 20253365131
    Land At Sandbanks Lane And Seasalter Road, Graveney, Kent , ME13 9DU
  4. Dismissed2 October 20253360939
    2 Parsonage Chase, Minster-on-Sea, Sheerness, Kent, ME12 3JL
  5. Planning permission granted24 September 20253366417
    Land at The Yard, Beckenham Park Industrial Estate, Sittingbourne, ME8 7UX

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.