®Planning appeal decision
The Former Dragoon Public House, 40 Sandling Road, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 2RF
conversion of former public house into 1no 2 -bedroom flat and 3no 1- bedroom flats
- Authority
- Maidstone Borough Council
- Appeal type
- minor · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- residential · Minor Dwellings
- Inspector
- Dade E
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the change of use of the property from a public house is justified
- whether other material considerations outweigh any harm identified such as to justify the development
What decided it
The Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply engaged the tilted balance under paragraph 11(d), which outweighed the limited-weight conflict with local plan policies protecting the pub.
The limited weight attributed to conflict with Policies LPRINF2 and LPRCD1 (loss of the pub) was outweighed by the moderate benefit of the net addition of three dwellings in the context of a housing land supply shortfall, so adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits and the presumption in favour of sustainable development applied.
Framework references: 78, 11, 232, 98, 55
Plan policies cited: Policy LPRINF2, Policy LPRCD1, LPR Policy LPRSP14(A), LPR Policy LPRQD6, LPR Policy LPRQD1
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.