Lympne Castle, The Street, Lympne, Hythe, CT21 4LQ

1. 1.The proposed development, would, by virtue of its scale, extent, siting, and materials, introduce a visually intrusive and urbanising form of development into a site characterised by its open, green, and undeveloped nature. The proposal would erode the rural character of the site and result in detrimental harm to the character and appearance of the countryside. The proposals are therefore contrary to policies SS1 and SS3 of the Core Strategy, policy HB1 of the Places and Policies Local Plan, and the advice of the National Planning Policy Framework.
2. 2.The proposed development, would, by virtue of its scale, extent, siting and materials, introduce a visually intrusive and urbanising form of development into a site characterised by its open, green and undeveloped nature. The proposal would erode the rural character of the site and result in harm to the significance of the Grade I listed Lympne Castle through adverse impacts on its setting, whilst also failing to preserve the character, appearance and setting of the adjacent Lympne Conservation Area. This would result in less than substantial harm to these designated heritage assets which would not be outweighed by the public benefits arising from the development. The proposal is therefore contrary to Policy HB1 of the Places and Policies Local Plan and the heritage objectives of Chapter 16 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
3. 3.The proposed car park, by virtue of its siting, scale, and the nature of the use, would give rise to unacceptable noise and disturbance in a manner harmful to the residential amenity of neighbouring dwellings. The proposals are therefore contrary to policy HB1 of the Places and Policies Local Plan and the advice of the National Planning Policy Framework.
4. 4.The application fails to demonstrate that the statutory Biodiversity Net Gain condition could be met and would therefore fail to contribute positively to biodiversity as required by national legislation. In the absence of this information, the Local Planning Authority are unable to confirm that the proposal would meet the biodiversity requirements as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework and as such would fail to comply with policies NE2 of the Places and Policies Local Plan 2020.

From the council's decision notice.

Postcode

CT21 4LQ

Application type

Full Planning Permission

Scale / size

Small

Parish

Lympne

Date validated

22 May 2026

Consultation expiry

25 June 2026

Consultation end

25 June 2026

Application expires

17 July 2026

Statutory period

56 days

Documents

19