Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Rajinder Atwal (who attended the meeting in his role as Ward Councillor) and Cllr Samir Jassal.  Cllr Deborah Croxton and Cllr Ben Sizer attended as their substitutes.

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on Wednesday 25 October 2025 were signed by the Chair.

To declare any interest members may have in the items contained on this agenda.   When declaring an interest a member must state what their interest is.  Any declared interest will fall into one of the following categories:

A Disclosable Pecuniary Interest which has been or should have been declared to the Monitoring Officer, and in respect of which the member must leave the chamber for the whole of the item in question;

An Other Significant Interest under the Code of Conduct and in respect of which the member must leave the chamber for the whole of the item in question unless exercising the right of public speaking extended to the general public;

A voluntary announcement of another interest not falling into the above categories, made for reasons of transparency.

There were no declarations of interest made.

RESOLVED that the application be delegated to the Head of Planning to grant PERMISSION subject to the finalisation of planning conditions and the completion of a section 106 legal agreement.

The Committee considered application 20231149 - Cobham Lodge, Valley Drive, Gravesend, Kent.  The application was for a residential mixed development which would result in 32 new dwellings.  The proposal consisted of:

·       The conversion of the existing house to 10no. flats, including side and rear extension and loft conversion.

·       Conversion of the rear annex building to 2no. dwelling houses including proposed new dormers.

·       Construction of new apartment building to form 11no. new apartments.

·       Construction of 8no. semi-detached and 1no. detached houses and associated development.

The Team Leader gave the Committee an overview of the site advising it was primarily located in the urban area of Gravesend, with part of the rear annex situated within the Green Belt.  The site was in close proximity to the A2 and located in a residential area, surrounded by large, detached properties with extensive gardens and the more modest detached properties of Sheldon Heights, a more recent back land development.

Members were informed that the proposed development was a resubmission of the previously refused planning application (ref: 20220839), which was refused on 25 Nov 2022.  In October 2023 an appeal was made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, against the refusal to grant planning permission by the Local Planning Authority.  Although the Planning Inspector found no reason to dismiss the planning appeal based on the development itself, the planning appeal was dismissed due to there being no signed s.106 agreement, which would mitigate the impact of the development on the necessary physical or social infrastructure.  The Committee were informed that as part of this planning application  the applicant had committed to agree to Section 106 agreement that would mitigate the impacts of the development on physical and social infrastructure, in line with the National Planning Policy Framework. However, due to viability reasons, the proposal could not deliver affordable housing, and this would need to be the subject of a viability review prior to the commencement of development.

The Committee were informed of the current street scene and were advised that the main property was screened by existing trees, many of which were protected by tree preservation orders.  It was explained that the proposed apartment block and dwelling to the rear of the existing Cobham Lodge dwelling  would not be visible to the street scene and would sit behind the existing Cobham Lodge and ‘Alva’.  The Team Leader highlighted that 2 pocket parks were proposed within the wider development plan.  One located behind the existing dwelling (Cobham Lodge) and the second in the northeast corner of the site (adjacent to the existing rear annexe).

Access to the site would be obtained via the existing north entrance which was served by a small access road which ran alongside Valley Drive.  It was noted that traffic flow ran at a slower speed along this access road due to its width.  Members were informed that KCC Highways, National Highways, GBC Highways and Kent Fire and Rescue were satisfied with the proposal and road network surrounding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28a

A copy of the schedule has been placed in the democracy web library and also in the Reception, Civic Centre: -

Document library - Gravesham Borough Council

A schedule showing applications determined by the Director (Environment) under delegated powers had been published on the Council’s website.

To move, if required, that pursuant to Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public be excluded from any items included in Part B of the agenda because it is likely in view of the nature of business to be transacted that if members of the public are present during those items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Part B

Items likely to be considered in Private