®Planning appeal decision
Land off Lower Rochester Road, Wainscott, Rochester, ME3 8EH
Outline application for demolition of existing buildings, the erection up to 800 dwellings (Use Class C3), primary school, mixed use local centre (Use Class E and F2), retirement living (Use Class C2), associated works and public open space. Approval is sought for the principal means of vehicular access from Lower Rochester Road and Higham Road, with all other matters reserved
- Authority
- Medway
- Appeal type
- major · Planning
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential
- Postcode
- ME3 8EH
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether the proposed development and its associated improvements would be in a location which is or would be made sustainable (i.e. reasonably accessible to relevant local services by sustainable transport modes).
- Whether it would result in unacceptable landscape and visual impacts including on the Dillywood Lane Area of Local Landscape Importance (ALLI), the designated Rochester Road/Dillywood Lane/Common Lane important rural lanes, and on users of local Public Rights of Way (PROWs).
- The tilted planning balance in National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) paragraph 11 d) ii), involving an assessment of the development's benefits against any harms, including the loss of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land and agreed conflict with the Development Plan (DP) and any conflict and the weight to be given to the Emerging Plan (EP).
What decided it
The development's failure to be reasonably accessible to local services by sustainable transport modes, which alone was significant enough to outweigh the identified planning benefits.
The substantial harms from inadequate sustainable transport accessibility and landscape/visual impact significantly and demonstrably outweighed the substantial benefits of housing, affordable housing and care home delivery, so the tilted balance favoured refusal.
Framework references: 11, 16, 49, 50, 51, 109, 110, 115, 117, 135, 187, 215, 216
Plan policies cited: Policy S1, Policy S2, Policy T3, Policy T4, Policy T6, Policy BNE25, Policy BNE34, Policy BNE47, Policy BNE48, Policy H11, EP Policy S2: Conservation and Enhancement of the Natural Environment, EP Policy S4: Landscape Protection and Enhancement
Judgments cited: Telford & Wrekin v SSCLG & Gladman [2016] EWHC 3073; Daventry
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.