Land Adjacent to the Bull Inn, Bethersden, Ashford, TN26 3LB

outline planning permission (with all matters reserved except 'means of access') for the erection of up to 32 dwellings including access from Bull Lane, parking, landscaping, open space and associated infrastructure and earthworks

Authority: Ashford Borough Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Major dwellings
Inspector: Longmuir J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, with particular regard to the local landscape and the setting of Bethersden
the effect of the proposal on the settings of designated Grade II listed buildings: The Bull Inn, The Stables of the Bull Inn, Bridge Farmhouse and Weatherboarded Barn to South West of Bridge Farmhouse

What decided it

The considerable housing land supply shortfall triggering the paragraph 11(d) tilted balance meant the substantial housing and other benefits outweighed the limited landscape harm and low-level less-than-substantial heritage harm.

The substantial planning benefits (housing delivery against a 3.27 year supply, 40% affordable housing, self-build plots, biodiversity net gain) outweighed the limited landscape/character harm and the low-level less-than-substantial heritage harm, such that adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits under the paragraph 11(d) balance

Framework references: 7, 8, 11, 57, 58, 61, 71, 98, 101, 110, 212, 213, 215

Plan policies cited: HOU5, ENV3a, ENV4, ENV13, SP6, SP1, COM1, COM2, IMP1, HOU6, HOU14

Judgments cited: Catesby Estates Ltd v Steer [2018] EWCA Civ 1697

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.