Woodlands Farm, Short Lane, Brenchley, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 7BA

Planning appeal 3374092 at Woodlands Farm, Short Lane, Brenchley, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 7BA (Tunbridge Wells Borough Council) was dismissed on 23 December 2025 by Inspector Knight A, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the appeal site would be a suitable location for the proposed development, having regard to the development plan.

(Self build) Change of use of agricultural barn to residential use

Authority: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Knight A
Postcode: TN12 7BA

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the appeal site would be a suitable location for the proposed development, having regard to the development plan
the effect of the proposed development on the character and appearance of the area, including the High Weald National Landscape

What decided it

The proposal's failure to comply with Policy ED5 criteria, particularly the lack of demonstration that the barn is redundant, the absence of marketing for alternative uses, and the extent of modifications required, combined with the significant harm to the character and appearance of the High Weald National Landscape, meant the benefits of the scheme could not outweigh the identified harms.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies: Policy STR1Policy ED5Policy EN1Policy EN18Policy EN19Policy STR8
National Planning Policy Framework: Paragraph 11Paragraph 85

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

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.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

20 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision

An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter — Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.

Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app — Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.

Start your free trial

More decisions in Tunbridge Wells

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

Dismissed20 January 20263372709
Barn to the East of Golford Road, Golford Road, Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 3NX
Dismissed13 October 20253367190
12 Flimwell Close, Flimwell, Wadhurst, Kent, TN5 7PP
Dismissed9 June 20253356520
Land Between White Lodge and Garden House, Horns Road, Hawkhurst, Kent, TN18 4QU
Dismissed9 December 20243339552
1 Hungershall Park, Tunbridge Wells, Kent , TN4 8ND
Dismissed29 April 20243327138
White Lodge, Horns Road, Hawkhurst,, Cranbrook, Kent, TN18 4QU

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.