Developer to challenge Secretary of State over Turnden housing refusal

Case viewed as setting a potentially critical AONB precedent

When we reported on Michael Gove’s decision to refuse planning permission for a new estate of 165 homes on greenfield land at Turnden, near Cranbrook, in the High Weald AONB, CPRE Kent was delighted but still wary that the Secretary of State’s verdict might not be the end of the story.

It was all too clear, from the resources that Berkeley Homes had thrown at its application, that it regarded the case as setting a potentially critical precedent.

Its response, revealed in yesterday’s Times newspaper (Tuesday, May 2) that Berkeley intended to seek a review of Mr Gove’s decision was therefore not unexpected.

According to The Times, Berkeley has written to Mr Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, telling him that it planned to challenge his “irrational” decision to overrule a planning inspector in refusing permission for the proposed development.

In giving his decision, Mr Gove had said “the layout of the scheme does not respond to its AONB setting”.

He attached greater weight to it conflicting with site allocation policies and considered that the weight of the scheme’s benefits was substantial but not exceptional. He thought the case for a development of this type at the site “not very compelling”.

The Times has seen the letter from Berkeley and says the builder cites six reasons it believes Mr Gove’s decision was wrong, claiming it was based partly on “erroneous and out-of-date conclusions”, particularly regarding housing shortfall in the borough, while it questioned how Mr Gove could refuse an application due to “bad design without any reasoning or indeed without referring to any evidence”.

CPRE Kent had played a full part throughout the process of opposing the development and regrets Berkeley’s stance.

The case is about very much more than the building of one housing estate on greenfield land, as highlighted by Roger Mortlock, CPRE chief executive, in a letter in today’s Times.

“There is, though, more to the decision than looks alone. This is a fight over rules that prevent major development in an AONB except in exceptional circumstances. Michael Gove was right to block an ‘ugly estate’ of generic housing in the Kent countryside,” wrote Mr Mortlock.

Hilary Newport, director of CPRE Kent, said: “For too long, local planning authorities have been unable to turn down applications for below-par design, even when it is clear that they should, for fear of being taken to appeal. This is, of course, especially important where protected landscapes, such as AONBs, are at stake.

“It is heartening to see that a clear message of ‘must do better’ is at last being clearly delivered. Existing and new communities deserve better than this and the development industry has failed to deliver genuinely sustainable, liveable, attractive neighbourhoods. It’s time to change.”

This is something of a David and Goliath battle – CPRE Kent doesn’t have the resources at its disposal such as those available to developers like Berkeley Homes. We must pick our battles carefully, but our charity will, when possible, stand up when the wrong kind of development is being pushed in the wrong places.