10am – 17/505865/FULL - Land at Sondes Arms, Station Approach, Selling, Faversham, Kent, ME13 9PL

The Chairman welcomed the Applicant, the Applicant’s Agent and 15 members of the public to the meeting.

The Planner introduced the application which sought planning permission for a three bedroom detached dwelling.  He explained that the site was a narrow strip of land which used to be part of the curtilage of the former Sondes Arms public house, but was now in separate ownership.  The frontage to the application site was to Station Approach, and access to the site was by way of an agreement with Network Rail.  The site was situated in the established built-up area, and to the north and east there was recently developed housing.  The Planner outlined the planning history of the site as noted in the Committee report.

The Planner provided details of the application and stated that the garden would be 10 metres deep, with off-road parking space for two cars at the front of the property. The amended drawings indicated a parking area which allowed vehicles to reverse within the site, ensuring egress in a forward gear.  He advised that the garage included in the original application had now been deleted from the application.

The Planner advised that seven letters of objection had been received, as noted in the report, and he outlined the issues that had been raised:  traffic concerns; noise during construction; the plot was contaminated with concrete; overdevelopment and overshadowing of site; issues with the access road being a private road; potential loss of a community asset; and the design was not-in-keeping.  The Planner reported that Selling Parish Council had stated that the proposed dwelling was too large for the site; there were no details of the foul water drainage; and parking in the area would aggravate the traffic issues along Station Approach; and it was too near to the Sondes Arms.

The Planner summarised and stated that infill development was acceptable within an established built-up area; and that there was unlikely to be any overlooking, with a first floor window to the landing, rather than to a habitable room.  The dwelling would be parallel to the neighbouring property, it was predominantly a residential area, and he considered it would not have a detrimental effect on residential amenity.  He concluded by advising that a previous application had set a precedent for a dwelling on the site, and the proposal was in accordance with Paragraph 14 of the National Planning Policy Framework and Policy ST3 of the Local Plan, and it was a sustainable form of development.

The Agent stated that the height of the proposed dwelling was nine metres which was the same height as neighbouring properties, with a Kentish design similar to the local vernacular.

Local residents raised points in objection to the application which included:  the new use for the Sondes Arms needed time to ‘bed-in’ as a business, this development would not help; the proposal would effect the garden of the Sondes Arms; the plans were too vague; more dialogue of what was planned was required; there was no proposal to protect the pub; needed to refer to paragraph 70 of the National Planning Policy Framework; this was overdevelopment into commercial curtilage; there were a lot of windows overlooking the Sondes Arms; this development would be there on its own and not part of the existing community; foul sewerage issues; traffic issues, particularly during construction; disputed site boundary; the plans were wrong as they did not include the chimney breast; the dwelling was inappropriately large; dangerous access onto Station Approach; traffic would be coming out onto an unlit road; village asset (Sondes Arms) needed to be supported; there was constant traffic already along Station Approach; the road could be obstructed by rail engineering works; safety issues with regard to pedestrians; overlooking; and this was a private road, in theory someone could park across it.

Other local residents raised points in support of the application which included:  the site had become a dumping ground, this would improve it; access and obstruction issues were already in existence due to the development that had already taken place in the vicinity; no problem with the infill development and egress onto Station Approach; and there was a footpath along the road, so cars should not be parked there in any case.

Members toured the application site and the garden of the Sondes Arms with officers.