Matellows Cottage, Middle Lane, Rushlake Green, Warbleton, TN21 9QY Data via plota.co.uk

WD/2026/0878/F - Full Approved

Proposal

Demolition of existing dwelling, part of garage and outbuildings (sheds 2,3 and 4) and erection of self-build dwelling and replace car port with garage with new pitched roof over garage Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
28 Apr 2026
✓
Validated
11 May 2026
✓
Committee
16 Jul 2026
✓
Approved
20 Jul 2026

Approved on 20 Jul 2026 · Committee · Last checked 9 Sept 2026

Planning committee

Decided by Wealden Minors Planning Committee on 16 Jul 2026.

Approved

Against officer advice: officers had recommended refusal.

  • Officers advised refusal because the dwelling was too large and harmful to the High Weald National Landscape.
  • The parish council and members of the public supported the proposal as an improvement that would help a local family remain in the area.
  • The committee approved the application against officers’ advice after the refusal motion failed and four councillors voted for approval.
Read how the committee decided The proposal, site history, officers’ assessment, public views, committee debate, vote and reasons for approval.

Source: Plota analysis of Wealden's committee minutes of 16 Jul 2026.

Site constraints 6

1 listed building within 150 m of the postcode pin
Nearest: Forster's, Grade II, about 1 m from the postcode pin
The site itself is not listed. Listed building consent is needed for work that affects the special interest of a listed building, inside or out, on top of planning permission. Setting can be a consideration for buildings nearby; there is no fixed radius.
Historic England ↗
High Weald National Landscape
Great weight to conserving the landscape; major development restricted.
Previously an area of outstanding natural beauty, which is still the designation in law. Since 2023 authorities must seek to further its purpose, not merely have regard to it.
Agricultural land, grade 3a
Best and most versatile land (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Source: the Predictive Agricultural Land Classification Map (Defra and Natural England, 2025; the Welsh Government's Predictive ALC Map 2 in Wales), a model rather than a site survey. Natural England's Provisional ALC map (1:250,000, 1970s) agrees.
Where development of farmland is needed, policy prefers poorer land over the best and most versatile (grades 1, 2 and 3a). Three sources: Natural England's post-1988 field surveys, which are definitive where they exist; the Defra predictive map for England (2025) and the Welsh Government predictive map, modelled from the soil map with 3a and 3b split; and the 1970s provisional map, which planners and other services still show, coarser and with grade 3 undivided. Where the provisional and predicted grades disagree, treat the predicted grade as the current estimate and expect an application to carry its own survey.
Public footpath about 20 m away
Matters where it crosses or adjoins the site: obstructing a path without a diversion order is an offence, and work cannot start until the order is confirmed.
Compiled from highway authority data, not the legal definitive map. A few authorities have not published, so no path shown is not proof there is none.
Habitat network: Network Enhancement Zone 1
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Priority habitat about 24 m away: Lowland meadows.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 11 September 2026. The pin for this application is the centre of its postcode rather than the building, so distances to nearby designations are measured from the postcode and can be out by the width of the postcode area. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council
Wealden
Application type
Full
Postcode
TN21 9QY
Received
28 Apr 2026
Validated
11 May 2026
Ward
Horam & Punnetts Town
Parish
Warbleton
Case officer
Show
Target decision
23 Jul 2026
Decision
Approval
Decision date
20 Jul 2026
Decision level
Committee
Applicant
Show
Agent
CLM Planning

How this decision compares

Decided in 70 days from validation, 17 days slower than Wealden's median of 53 for demolitions. Approved, as 74% of demolitions here are.

69%decided within 8 weeks
74%approved
127decided in the last year

Plota live figures for demolitions decided by Wealden in the last twelve months, from validation. Wealden decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Consultation
21 May 2026
Comments by
12 Jun 2026
Site or press notice
21 May 2026
Wealden
Planning Authority Score
4.2/10
Below average
#188 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Householder decisions

Wealden ranks #132 out of 296 councils for householder decision speed. Householder applications are slightly less likely to be approved here (88%) than the national average (90%).

These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Wealden decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
84%
Overall approval rate
Below avg (87%) #231 of 296
88%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #227 of 296
69%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #132 of 296
40%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #156 of 296
66%
Minor dwellings approved
170 decided (1-9 homes)
78%
Major dwellings approved
32 decided (10+ homes)
74%
Change of use approved
82 decided
1,361
Total decisions
220 refused in the year to March 2026