Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council | | Appeal Decision | | --- | --- | | S | ite visit made on 22 February 2023 | | b | y C Hall BSc MPhil MRTPI | | a | n Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State | | D | ecision date: 20th March 2023 |

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council | | Appeal Decision | | --- | --- | | S | ite visit made on 22 February 2023 | | b | y C Hall BSc MPhil MRTPI | | a | n Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State | | D | ecision date: 20th March 2023 | | | Appeal Ref: APP/U2235/W/22/3303617 | | --- | --- | | | Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst TN12 0HT | | | • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 | | | against a refusal to grant planning permission. | | | • The appeal is made by Mrs Leslie Balfour-Lynn against the decision of Maidstone | | | Borough Council. | | | • The application ref. 22/501047/FULL, dated 25 February 2022, was refused by notice | | | dated 11 May 2022. | | | • The development proposed is the retention of a marquee to be sited for a period of 3 | | | years for continued use for ancillary purposes to the existing winery site. |

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council | | Appeal Ref: APP/U2235/W/22/3303617 | | --- | --- | | | Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst TN12 0HT | | | • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 | | | against a refusal to grant planning permission. | | | • The appeal is made by Mrs Leslie Balfour-Lynn against the decision of Maidstone | | | Borough Council. | | | • The application ref. 22/501047/FULL, dated 25 February 2022, was refused by notice | | | dated 11 May 2022. | | | • The development proposed is the retention of a marquee to be sited for a period of 3 | | | years for continued use for ancillary purposes to the existing winery site. |

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council Decision 1. The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for the retention of a marquee to be sited for a period of 3 years for continued use for ancillary purposes to the existing winery site at Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst TN12 0HT in accordance with the terms of the application ref. 22/501047/FULL, dated 25 February 2022, subject to the following list of conditions: 1) The use hereby permitted shall be for a limited period being the period of 3 years from the date of this decision. At the end of that period the use shall be discontinued and the land restored in accordance with a scheme of work, including a timetable for implementation, that shall first have been submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority. 2) The marquee shall be used for ancillary purposes to the winery only and for no other purpose. 3) No external lighting shall be installed on the site without the prior written consent of the Local Planning Authority. Main Issue 2. The main issue is the effect of the development on the character and appearance of the surrounding area. Reasons 3.

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council Balfour Winery is situated on Five Oak Lane and, amongst other things, comprises a number of large metal and timber framed buildings and a car park. It is located in a wider rural area consisting of sporadic residential properties, fields and woodland. _________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council Balfour Winery is situated on Five Oak Lane and, amongst other things, comprises a number of large metal and timber framed buildings and a car park. It is located in a wider rural area consisting of sporadic residential properties, fields and woodland. _________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council Appeal Decision APP/U2235/W/22/3303617 __________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. In relation to economic development, policy SP21of the Maidstone Borough Local Plan October 2017 (LP) states that the Council is committed to supporting and improving the economy of the Borough and providing for the needs of businesses. Amongst other things, this will be achieved through supporting proposals for the expansion of existing economic development premises in the countryside, including tourism related development, provided the scale and impact of the development is appropriate for its countryside location. 5. LP policy DM37 advocates that planning permission will be granted for the sustainable growth and expansion of rural businesses in the rural area, provided the resultant development as a whole is appropriate in scale for the location and can be satisfactorily integrated into the local landscape. 6. I am aware of the current wider economic situation, and the impact of COVID on the hospitality sector.

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council With this in mind, the appellant argues that a covered outdoor seating area for use during tours of the winery would assist in allowing the business to continue to operate in a viable manner. 7. The marquee the subject of this appeal has white plastic walls and triangular roof projections that give it a stark appearance. Nevertheless, its impact is tempered somewhat by its positioning at the rear of the property, with only passing glimpses of it being evident from the public highway along the extensive tarmac driveway into the land. 8. Although it may be more visible from the open fields to the south and west towards Wilden Park Road and Husheath Hill, the development is set against the backdrop of the more substantial barns that make up the overall winery enterprise. There is also a broad expanse of decking with outdoor benches and tables adjacent to the marquee. These serve the shop and tasting area, and to my mind are consistent with the ancillary retail and visitor facilities that form part of the business. Overall, within this context the negative effects of the proposal accrue moderate weight in my reasoning. 9.

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council The national Planning Practice Guidance says, at Paragraph 014 in the section dealing with the approach to be taken to imposing conditions, that circumstances where a temporary permission may be appropriate include where it is expected that the planning circumstances will change in a particular way at the end of that period. I consider that this advice is relevant to this position, and am aware that the retention of the marquee is for a period of 3 years, which would allow the business time to manage the challenging conditions in the industry. Bearing in mind the policy context and current cost of living situation, I assign substantial weight to the economic benefits of the proposal. 10. An unrestricted permission would not be concordant with environmental objectives for rural areas such as this, as it would make it difficult for the Council to control other similar proposals and cumulatively the impact could be more substantial. Therefore I am satisfied that the 3 year temporary permission is justified; the detrimental effects of the scheme would be temporary, and are outweighed by the economic benefits to the business. 11.

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council Consequently, the proposal would not result in harm to the character and appearance of the the surrounding area. It would meet Policies SP17, SP21, DM1, DM30 and DM37 of the LP and Policy PW2 of the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan June 2020, which seek to secure new development of acceptable scale and appearance that integrate into the wider landscape. It _________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council Consequently, the proposal would not result in harm to the character and appearance of the the surrounding area. It would meet Policies SP17, SP21, DM1, DM30 and DM37 of the LP and Policy PW2 of the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan June 2020, which seek to secure new development of acceptable scale and appearance that integrate into the wider landscape. It _________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council Appeal Decision APP/U2235/W/22/3303617 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ would also be consistent with the advice in the National Planning Policy Framework, which states that good design is a key aspect of sustainable development. Conditions 12. I have considered the imposition of conditions in light of advice in Planning Policy Guidance and the National Planning Policy Framework. A condition is necessary to control the duration of the development since I have found that a temporary planning permission is appropriate in this case. 13. Additionally conditions limiting the use of the marquee for ancillary purposes only and restricting external lighting are necessary in the interests of the character and visual amenity of the area. Conclusion 14. Having regard to the above and all arguments put forward, I allow the appeal.

Balfour Winery, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst, TONBRIDGE, TN12 0HT — Maidstone Borough Council — C Hall INSPECTOR _________________________________________________________________________________ https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3