®Planning appeal decision
Ashlea Nursery, Birchwood Road, Wilmington, Dartford, Kent, DA2 7HQ
Planning appeal 3369066 at Ashlea Nursery, Birchwood Road, Wilmington, Dartford, Kent, DA2 7HQ (Dartford Borough Council) was decided (invalid) on 19 December 2025 by Inspector Phillips A, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the enforcement notice is a nullity because it is hopelessly unclear and defective on its face.
the material change of use of the land to a mixed use comprising: i. use of land for storage purposes facilitated by siting of shipping style containers; ii. the deposit and storage of building materials including building waste, fencing, decking and scaffolding equipment; iii. the use of the Land for the storage of motor vehicles; iv. the use of the Land for the breaking and repair of motorised vehicles; v. the use of the Land as a civil engineering yard; vi. the use of the Land as a scaffolding yard/s; vii. the use of the Land for dog agility training
- Authority
- Dartford Borough Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- employment-industrial · Change of use
- Inspector
- Phillips A
- Postcode
- DA2 7HQ
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the enforcement notice is a nullity because it is hopelessly unclear and defective on its face
- Whether the Land the subject of the Notice comprises different planning units
- Whether there is uncertainty surrounding the alleged breach of planning control which makes the requirements to remedy it similarly unclear
What decided it
The enforcement notice's internal inconsistencies and uncertainty about the alleged breach (particularly regarding the containers and the hardstanding as operational development) could not be corrected without causing injustice to the appellant, rendering the notice invalid.
What the Inspector cited
- Judgments
- Murfitt v SSE & East Cambridgeshire CC [1980] JPL 598; Caldwell & Timberstone Ltd v SSLUHC & Buckinghamshire Council [2024] EWCA Civ 467
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 appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Dartford Borough Council
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025
- Dismissed7 August 20263378282Land Adjacent Manor Farm Cottages, Green Street Green Road, Darenth, Kent, DA2 8DN
- Notice varied and upheld16 April 20263376226Land at Unit E, Yard and Parking Area, Malt House Farm, Green Street Green Road, Dartford, Kent , DA2 8DX
- Notice varied and upheld6 May 20253351776Hawkspare Ltd, Green Street Green Road, Dartford, DA2 8DP
- Notice varied and upheld6 May 20253351756Hawkspare Limited, Green Street Green Road, Dartford, DA2 8DP
- Notice varied and upheld31 March 20253337755Land Adjacent Beacon Hill, Rowhill Road, Dartford, Kent, DA2 7QG
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.