Folkestone Garden Centre, Canterbury Road, Swingfield, Dover, CT15 7HX Data via plota.co.uk

25/2191/FH/CON - Approval of details reserved by a condition Approved
Admin / procedural

Proposal

Approval of details pursuant to condition 29 (i) (archaeological field evaluation) of planning permission . Data via plota.co.uk

Track application Save this application and get an email when its status or decision changes. Alerts nearby Get email alerts for new planning applications near this address.
View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

✓
Received
1 Dec 2025
✓
Approved
5 Feb 2026

Approved on 5 Feb 2026 · Last checked 5 Oct 2026

Documents 6

Decision & officer reports 1

PDF Decision Notice.pdf PDF · 5 Feb 2026 View ↗

Statements & assessments 1

PDF Archaeological assessment Report · 1 Dec 2025 View ↗

Plans & drawings 1

PDF Site Location Plan Plan · 1 Dec 2025 View ↗

Application forms 1

PDF Application Form r PDF · 1 Dec 2025 View ↗

Consultation & comments 1

PDF List of Consultations.pdf PDF · 3 Dec 2025 View ↗

Other documents 1

PDF Officers Report.pdf PDF · 5 Feb 2026 View ↗

All documents on the council site ↗

Associated applications 4

Site constraints 4

Kent Downs 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 2
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.
Radon affected area, class 6
An estimated 30% or more of homes reach the radon action level. Indicative for the 1 km square, which takes the highest class found in it; a radon test gives the answer for a building.
From the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency indicative atlas. Under building regulations, as the BRE guide BR 211 (2023) sets out, new buildings and extensions need basic radon protection from class 3 in England and Wales and from class 2 in Scotland, and full protection from class 5. The class at the site itself, from the detailed BGS map, decides which.
UKHSA radon ↗
Also on the record
Coalfield, development low risk area.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No scheduled monument at the site

Checked on 6 October 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, the Mining Remediation Authority, the British Geological Survey and UK Health Security Agency (radon, contains BGS materials © UKRI) 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.

Building

Floor area1,076 m² (11,582 sq ft)
Energy ratingC (asset rating 54)
UseRetail/Financial and Professional Services
HeatingHeating and Natural Ventilation

From the energy performance certificate lodged in February 2024, the latest held for this property, matched to this application by its address. The building may have changed since. View the certificate

Work with planning data?

Every application in Shepway - and every UK council - as a live feed, an API, or a bulk CSV export.

About Plota's data service

Other new applications on this street

21 May 2026Pending

Folkestone Garden Centre, Canterbury Road, Swingfield Minnis, Folkestone, CT15 7HX

Approval of details pursuant to conditions 8 (construction management plan), 20 ...

26/0805/FH/CON
16 Sept 2026Pending

Selsted Garage, Canterbury Road, Selsted, CT15 7HJ

Demolition of existing buildings & construction of 4 dwellings along with associ...

26/1545/FH

Nearby new applications

25 Aug 2026Pending

Hoad Farm, Hoad Road, Swingfield, CT18 8LP

Erection of a covered horse walker unit (retrospective).

26/1407/FH

Important details

Council
Shepway
Application type
Approval of details reserved by a condition
Postcode
CT15 7HX
Received
1 Dec 2025
Validated
1 Dec 2025
Ward
North Downs East
Parish
Swingfield
Case officer
Show
Target decision
26 Jan 2026
Decision
Approved
Decision date
5 Feb 2026

Public comments

No public comments yet.

Last counted 5 Oct 2026

Read the comments on the council site ↗

Consultation & key dates

Comments by
24 Dec 2025

Historical activity at this location

8 nearby applications on record - archival context, not part of the live application.

Within ~100m

Nearby activity

2023 Withdrawn
Folkestone Garden Centre, Canterbury Road, Swingfield Minnis, Folkestone, CT15 7HX
Hybrid application seeking full planning permission for the demolition of the existing gr…
23/0963/FH
2018 Approved
Minnis House Canterbury Road Swingfield Dover Kent CT15 7HX
Erection of two storey rear extension (resubmission of Y18/1114/FH).
Y18/1532/FH
2018 Approved
Minnis House Canterbury Road Swingfield Dover Kent CT15 7HX
Erection of two storey rear extension (resubmission of Y18/1114/FH).
Y18/1532/FH
2018 Withdrawn
Minnis House Canterbury Road Swingfield Dover Kent CT15 7HX
Erection of a two storey rear extension (resubmission of Y18/0837/FH)
Y18/1114/FH
2018 Withdrawn
Minnis House Canterbury Road Swingfield Dover Kent CT15 7HX
Erection of a two storey rear extension (resubmission of Y18/0837/FH)
Y18/1114/FH
2018 Refused
Minnis House Canterbury Road Swingfield Dover Kent CT15 7HX
Erection of a two storey rear extension.
Y18/0837/FH
2018 Refused
Minnis House Canterbury Road Swingfield Dover Kent CT15 7HX
Erection of a two storey rear extension.
Y18/0837/FH
2016 Refused
Macfarlanes Nurseries Canterbury Road Swingfield Dover Kent CT15 7HX
Change of use from garden centre and butterfly centre to garden centre, butterfly centre…
Y15/0539/SH
Shepway
Planning Authority Score
7.4/10
Good
#49 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Major dwellings

Shepway is one of the fastest councils in England for householder decisions, ranking #5 out of 296. Only 12% of applications have the time limit extended, well below the 41% national average - the council usually decides on time. Householder applications are slightly less likely to be approved here (88%) than the national average (90%).

Among the fastest councils in England
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Shepway decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
82%
Overall approval rate
Below avg (87%) #247 of 296
88%
Householder approved
Below avg (90%) #219 of 296
96%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #5 of 296
12%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #5 of 296
61%
Minor dwellings approved
95 decided (1-9 homes)
100%
Major dwellings approved
13 decided (10+ homes)
69%
Change of use approved
32 decided
761
Total decisions
139 refused in the year to March 2026
Source: MHCLG planning statistics · See full council rankings

Energy performance: Energy performance certificates from the Energy Performance of Buildings Register, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright 2026.