Up to 105 homes at Land At Elmtree Farm, Main Road, Sellindge, Ashford

What was proposed

The outline proposal covered up to 105 homes, community and commercial uses, school expansion land, open space and supporting infrastructure.

“Application reference: 23/1413/FH Application address: Land At Elmtree Farm, Main Road, Sellindge, Ashford, TN25 6JY Application description: Outline application (with all matters reserved except access) for demolition of existing modern farm buildings and erection of a community extension comprising up to 105 homes including affordable and self/custom-build housing, doctors’ surgery, dentist, shop, and provision of land for school expansion; together with associated open…”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The site covered about 17.87 hectares of open farmland, fields, hedgerows and drainage ditches, with farm buildings near its centre.

“The Site is located in Sellindge, Kent within an open farmland landscape and is approximately 17.87 hectares (ha) in area.”

“The Site comprises of five arable fields, enclosed by mature hedgerows and drainage ditches. An area of farm buildings and associated bare ground and hardstanding forming…”

Officer report

What officers recommended

Officers recommended approval with conditions, a section 106 agreement and adoption of the Appropriate Assessment.

“A) That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions set out below, and the applicant entering into a S106 legal agreement securing the details set out in Table 1; and that delegated authority be given to the Chief Planning Officer to agree and finalise the wording of the conditions and the legal agreement and add any other conditions that he considers necessary:”

“B) That Members adopt the Appropriate Assessment under the Habitats Regulations 2017 (as amended) which identifies suitable mitigation proposals such that, would not have a significant adverse effect on the integrity of the Stodmarsh SAC, SPA and Ramsar Site alone or in combination with other plans or projects; and with delegated authority to be given to the Chief Planning Officer, to enter into a section 106 agreement/undertaking to add, amend or remove planning obligations…”

Officer report

Environmental effects and mitigation

The development required mitigation for nutrient impacts on Stodmarsh, with SuDS and nutrient credits intended to achieve nutrient neutrality.

“In the absence of mitigation, the Applicant has calculated a (pre-2030) nutrient budget of 53.04 kg Nitrogen(N)/year and -0.10 kg Phosphorus(P)/year. As set out in the NNAMS, in terms of the post-2030 budget, the proposed development achieves nutrient neutrality for phosphorous without mitigation, through land use change alone. This budget has been confirmed using the latest Natural England Stodmarsh calculator and guidance.”

“The Appropriate Assessment and Nutrient Neutrality Support document prepared by Aecom agrees that nutrient neutrality should be achieved as part of the Proposed Development through the use of SuDS measures, but that there is a lack of detail regarding how this would be achieved. The document states that a condition is recommended to ensure that the Applicant demonstrates that the proposed nutrient reduction values can be achieved once there is a detailed SuDS Strategy.”

Officer report

What consultees said

Natural England had no objection provided appropriate mitigation was secured, after identifying potential harm without mitigation.

“Natural England notes that your authority, as competent authority, has undertaken an appropriate assessment of the proposal in accordance with regulation 63 of the Conservation of Species and Habitats Regulations 2017 (as amended). Natural England is a statutory consultee on the appropriate assessment stage of the Habitats Regulations Assessment process.”

“Your appropriate assessment concludes that your authority is able to ascertain that the proposal will not result in adverse effects on the integrity of any of the sites in question. Having considered the assessment, and the measures proposed to mitigate for all identified adverse effects that could potentially occur as a result of the proposal, Natural England advises that we concur with the assessment conclusions, providing that all mitigation measures are appropriately…”

Officer report

Who spoke

A local resident spoke against the application, the parish council spoke on it, and the applicant’s agent spoke in support.

What was decided

Permission was granted subject to conditions, a section 106 agreement, the Appropriate Assessment and reserved matters applications being reported to committee where required.

“That planning permission be granted subject to the conditions set out at the end of this report and the applicant entering into a section 106 legal agreement securing affordable housing, self- build/custom housing, transfer of school expansion land, medical facility provision and, contributions towards education and SEND and that delegated authority be given to the Chief Planning Officer to agree and finalise the wording of the conditions, the legal agreement and add any…”

“And that planning permission be granted subject to the subsequent application/s for reserved matters being reported to the Planning Committee for determination unless a National Scheme of Delegation has been adopted and indicates otherwise.”

Minutes