37 Jersey Road, Strood, Rochester, Medway, ME2 3PB

change of use of the property from a dwellinghouse (Use Class C3/C4) to a 7-bedroom/7person HMO (Sui Generis) by converting the entertainment room into a bedroom and provision of bin and bike storage

Authority: Medway Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Francis L

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the appeal proposal on the living conditions of future occupiers
the effect of the appeal proposal on the integrity of the European designated sites

What decided it

The absence of a completed planning obligation to secure SAMM mitigation for the European designated sites, combined with inadequate living conditions for future occupiers particularly in relation to daylight, outlook and communal space, rendered the proposal unacceptable.

Framework references: 135

Plan policies cited: Policy BNE2, Policy H7, Policy BNE35, Policy S6

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.

Town Planner Pro

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.

Join the waiting list

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every other appeal around it, with the full reasoning summary, the letter held on file, and the case law it applies.