®Planning appeal decision
Land West Of Borden Lane, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 8HR
an Outline Application (with all matters reserved) for the erection of a care home (Class C2), with associated parking, landscaping and substation
- Authority
- Swale Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- community-institutional · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Courtney T
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect of the proposal on the Important Local Countryside Gap
- whether the site is suitably located for the proposed development, having regard to the Council's Spatial Strategy
- the effect of the proposal on Best and Most Versatile Agricultural Land
- the effect of the proposal on ecology, with particular regard to protected species and priority habitats
What decided it
The significant benefits of delivering a much-needed care home and its contribution to housing land supply outweighed the moderate harm arising from conflict with the development plan.
the moderate harm from conflict with the development plan (ILCG erosion, spatial strategy conflict, loss of BMV land) was outweighed by the significant benefits of meeting an identified care home need and contributing to housing land supply, so the adverse impacts did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits and the presumption in favour of sustainable development applied
Framework references: 11, 92, 117, 129, 187
Plan policies cited: Policy ST 1, Policy ST 3, Policy DM25, Policy DM31, Policy DM28, Policy DM34
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.