131 Merlin Grove, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3HS

splitting of site and development to create 2 or 3 bedroomed dwelling house

Authority: London Borough of Bromley
Appeal type: householder · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: residential · Householder developments
Inspector: Gardner L

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area, including its effect on a protected Oak tree

What decided it

The significant and demonstrable harm to the character and appearance of the area and to the protected Oak tree outweighs the moderate benefits of delivering a single dwelling in a location with a shortfall in housing land supply.

The moderate benefits of housing delivery and efficient use of a windfall site were significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the significant harm to character and appearance and the likely future loss of amenity value of the protected Oak tree.

Framework references: 11, 135, 136

Plan policies cited: Policy 3, Policy 4, Policy 37, Policy 73, Policy 74, Policy D4, Policy D6

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.