Lower Holywich Cottage, Annexe, Hartfield Road, Cowden, TN8 7DY

WD/2025/2197/FRFull - RetrospectiveRefused

Full

Refused on 25 February 2026

Council decision: RefusalDelegated (officer decision)2 reasons for refusal

Approximate site (title boundary)

Boundary © HM Land Registry, © Ordnance Survey · details

This information is subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 and is reproduced with the permission of HM Land Registry. The polygons (including the associated geometry, namely x, y co-ordinates) are subject to Crown copyright and database rights 2026 Ordnance Survey AC0000851063. Conditions of use.

Proposal

RETROSPECTIVE APPLICATION FOR CHANGE OF USE FROM GRANNY ANNEXE TO SEPARATE DWELLING

Received: 22 September 2025
Decision level: Delegated (officer decision)
Council: Wealden District Council
Ward: Hartfield

ReceivedReceived22 Sep
ValidatedValidated4 Nov
Consult.Consultation2 Jan
TargetTarget Date30 Dec
DecidedDecided25 Feb

Decided in 113 days (council typically 56)

About this application

This is an application to amend a permission at LOWER HOLYWICH COTTAGE, ANNEXE, HARTFIELD ROAD, COWDEN, TN8 7DY. Wealden has handled 904 applications of this type. This one was decided in 156 days, 14 weeks longer than Wealden's typical decision time. The site is in 1 listed building nearby. There are no previous applications recorded at this address. In the past year there have been 97 applications across Hartfield. We hold 1,036 applications in total for the TN8 postcode area.

79% of amendment applications at Wealden District Council were approved. Across all application types, the council typically decides in about 8 weeks (median).

Based on decided applications received in the last 3 years.Planning something similar? See what gets approved on your street

Why it was refused

The application site occupies a highly unsustainable rural location outside any development boundary, where new housing is resisted and where there is extremely limited access to local and day-to-day services other than by private car. The provision of a single dwelling would not significantly or demonstrably outweigh this harm. The site does not therefore constitute a sustainable location for housing, contrary to Saved Policies GD2, EN1 and DC17 of the Wealden Local Plan 1998; policies SPO7, SPO14, WCS6 and WCS14 of the Wealden Core Strategy 2013; and paragraphs 7, 83, 109, 115 and 117 of the National Planning Policy Framework.
The application site lies within 7km of the Ashdown Forest Special Protection Area (SPA) and is likely to have a significant adverse impact upon the SPA as a result of recreational impact caused by intensified residential occupation within the zone of influence of the SPA. The application has not demonstrated through an appropriate mechanism that it can achieve the necessary mitigation measures in respect of the increased recreational pressures it is likely to bring on the SPA. In the absence of such committed measures to offset the impact of the development, the proposal is contrary to Saved Policies EN1 and EN15 of the Wealden Local Plan 1998; Core Policy WCS12 of the Wealden District Core Strategy Local Plan 2013; and Regulation 63 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (as amended).

From the council's decision notice.

Application details

Postcode: TN8 7DY
Application type: Full - Retrospective
Scale / size: Small
Parish: Hartfield

Planning application dates

Date validated: 4 November 2025
Consultation expiry: 2 January 2026
Consultation start: 9 December 2025
Consultation end: 2 January 2026
Target decision date: 30 December 2025
Committee meeting: 25 February 2026

Applicant and agent

Agent address: Lower Holywich Cottage Hartfield Road Cowden Kent TN8 7DY

Planning decision

Statutory period: 56 days

Publicity

Advertisement expiry: 19 December 2025
Site notice start: 9 December 2025

Additional information

UPRN: 10094620521
Documents: 13

Site constraints

Checking the site

2/3

Council recordsAppealsFlood risk

Designations that overlap or adjoin the site outline.

Listed building: Grade II: Holwych FarmhouseOn or next to this site
National Landscape (AONB): High Weald
Flood zone 1: Low probability (rivers and sea)

Not published by this council, so not checked: Article 4 directions and tree preservation orders. Ask the council if these matter.

Also checked, none recorded (20)

flood storage areas, conservation areas, green belt, scheduled monuments, World Heritage Sites, World Heritage Site buffer zones, registered parks and gardens, registered battlefields, Heritage at Risk entries, nutrient neutrality catchments, national parks, SSSIs, Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar sites, ancient woodland, national nature reserves, local nature reserves, heritage coasts and brownfield registers.

A guide only, from official open data; it is not a planning search. Flood zones cover rivers and sea, not surface water.

Data © Crown copyright and others · sources and licences

© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 2026-11-03. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.

Source: Wealden

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