To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 31 October 2024 (Minute Nos. 370 - 371).

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 31 October 2024 (Minute Nos. 370 – 371) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The Planning Manager (Planning Applications) introduced the report as set out in the agenda.

Sue Henderson, representing Selling Parish Council, spoke against the application.

Mr Gardiner, an objector, spoke against the application.

The Chair moved the officer recommendation to grant planning permission as per the recommendation in the report, and this was seconded by Councillor Hayden Brawn.

The Chair invited members to make comments, which included:

·       The development would be an eyesore in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB);

·       the site was in a small rural area with a popular footpath that ran along the top;

·       to increase the size by 89% in volume was not acceptable;

·       planning permission had already been approved for the foundations of a building that was already on the site and members needed to consider the impact of widening the site;

·       had the applicant given any indications of what the commercial use would be?;

·       broken-up pallets had become a fast growing business for internal decorating, could an alternative pallet business start-up under the condition if approved?;

·       what happened to the containers if full planning permission was given?;

·       there was already an adequate building on the site that was suitable; 

·       was not a good idea to approve an application that allowed a larger unnecessary building in an AONB;

·       from the footpath you could see the building that had permission and a larger building would have a greater impact on the footpath;

·       it would be difficult to get a screen added to the site to block the impact of any sized development;

·       feared that even with a new larger development the containers would remain on the site;

·       how tall would the containers be if they were on top of each other?; and

·       there was no clear business proposal of what was going to be carried out on site.

The Planning Manager (Planning Applications) responded to the points raised and said that the containers, if stacked on top of each other, would exceed the height of the proposed building. With regards to the points raised about the use of the containers on the site he said that the containers were being used to store items from the other uses occurring at the site. The condition proposed required all the containers to be moved into the building once it had been built.

On being put to the vote, the motion to approve the application was lost.

The Chair moved the following motion to refuse the application: That the application be refused, on the grounds that by virtue of its increased scale and appearance it would have a detrimental impact on the rural character and appearance of the site and the surrounding area. The proposal, for which a need had not been demonstrated, and it would therefore not further conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the national landscape. The proposal was therefore unacceptable and contrary to policies ST3, ST7, CP4, DM3,DM14 and DM24 of the Swale Borough Local Plan 2017 and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This was seconded by Councillor Terry Thompson and on being put to the vote agreed. 

Resolved: That application 22/502692/FULL be refused for the reason as minuted.