25-25A West Street, Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 1AL

partial change of use of ground floor offices to residential, and erection of a two storey rear extension, first floor side extension and a second floor, to create 3no. new residential flats including alterations to existing flat

Authority: Swale Borough Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Minor Dwellings
Inspector: Housden C

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect on the character and appearance of the host building and area

What decided it

The adverse effects of granting planning permission would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the policies of the Framework as a whole, such that the presumption in favour of sustainable development would not apply.

The significant harm to character and appearance, carrying significant weight against the development, outweighed the limited weight attributable to housing supply benefits and modest economic benefits, such that the adverse effects significantly and demonstrably outweighed the benefits.

Framework references: 11, 124, 125, 135, 139, 232

Plan policies cited: CP 4, DM 14, DM 16

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.

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.