Merrymaids Farm, Couchman Green Lane, Staplehurst, Kent, TN12 0RR

Planning appeal 3367625 at Merrymaids Farm, Couchman Green Lane, Staplehurst, Kent, TN12 0RR (Maidstone Borough Council) was allowed on 24 October 2025 by Inspector Whitfield H, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the proposal would constitute permitted development under Schedule 2, Part 3, Class Q of the GPDO, having regard to whether the development would comprise building operations reasonably necessary to convert the building to a dwellinghouse.

a “prior notification for the change of use of a building and any land within its curtilage from agricultural to 3no. dwellinghouses and associated operation development. For its prior approval to: - Transport and Highways impacts of the development. - Noise impacts of the development. - Contamination risks on the site.- Flooding risks on the site. - Whether the location or siting of the building makes it otherwise impractical or undesirable for the use of the buildi ng to change from agricultural use to C3 (dwellinghouses). - Design and external appearance impacts on the building. - Provision of adequate natural light in all habitable rooms of the dwellinghouses

Authority: Maidstone Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Whitfield H
Postcode: TN12 0RR

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the proposal would constitute permitted development under Schedule 2, Part 3, Class Q of the GPDO, having regard to whether the development would comprise building operations reasonably necessary to convert the building to a dwellinghouse

What decided it

The existing building's structural soundness and capability to function as dwellings, combined with the finding that the proposed building operations would be reasonably necessary for conversion rather than amounting to rebuilding, meant the development constituted permitted development under Class Q of the GPDO.

The decision letter

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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.