25/03550/FPA

The proposal has not demonstrated that the proposed new highway access would not have a significantly adverse effect on highway safety, and that it would not increase road danger, and/or that it would not cause inconvenience to pedestrians and other road users and the free flow of traffic on the highway, contrary to Policies T2, T3 and T4 of the London Plan 2021 and Policy 32 of the Bromley Local Plan 2019.

The proposal would result in a loss of biodiversity and ecological habitat, and it has not been demonstrated that the proposal would not be harmful to protected or notable species therein, and that it would preserve the welfare of animals on the land, contrary to Policies G6 and G7 of The London Plan 2021 and Policies 70 and 72 of the Bromley Local Plan 2019.

The application fails to provide a completed Section 106 legal agreement necessary to secure the proposed self-build exemption from mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements. In the absence of such an agreement, the Local Planning Authority cannot be satisfied that the development would lawfully qualify for, or continue to comply with, the self-build exemption criteria, including the required long-term occupancy and delivery safeguards. Accordingly, the proposal conflicts with the statutory BNG provisions set out in the Environment Act 2021, associated national guidance, and the objectives of Policy G6 of the London Plan (2021) and Policy 79 of the Bromley Local Plan (2019) which require adequate mechanisms to ensure biodiversity impacts are properly mitigated or compensated. Without a binding legal mechanism in place, the proposal fails to make satisfactory provision for biodiversity and is therefore unacceptable, and as such it is contrary to the relevant requirements of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) and associated secondary legislation governing Biodiversity Net Gain compliance.

The proposal would comprise inappropriate development in the Green Belt by definition, it would fail to preserve the openness of the Green Belt; conflicting with the fundamental aim of the Green Belt to keep land permanently open and detracting from the visual amenities of the Green Belt and its essential characteristics, its openness and permanence. There are no Very Special Circumstances of sufficient weight to clearly outweigh the harm by reason of inappropriateness and the other harm identified. For these reasons the development would conflict with the requirements of the NPPF (2024), Policy G2 of the London Plan (2021) and Policy 49 of The Bromley Local Plan (2019).