Land South of Court Lodge, Valley Road, Fawkham, DA3 8NA

erection of a minimum of 2, maximum of 3 detached dwellings

Authority: Sevenoaks
Appeal type: minor · Planning
Procedure: Written
Development: residential
Postcode: DA3 8NA

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether the appeal site is grey belt land and whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt (having regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and development plan policies)
The effect of the proposal on the openness and purposes of the Green Belt
Whether the amount of development would be appropriate having particular regard to development plan policy on density of residential development
Whether any harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, would be clearly outweighed by other considerations, so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The site is not in a sustainable location as it is a hamlet with limited services and no viable public transport access, making it inappropriate development in the Green Belt that cannot be justified by the housing supply shortfall.

The benefits to housing delivery and local businesses through additional spending do not clearly outweigh the substantial harm to the Green Belt; the presumption in favour of sustainable development does not apply because the Green Belt protection policies provide a strong reason for refusal.

Framework references: 11, 83, 110, 115, 153, 155

Plan policies cited: Policy LO1, Policy LO7, Policy SP7

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.