Plans designed for Berkeley by OSP Architecture and LDA Design
The housing secretary has approved a 165-home Berkeley scheme in Kent which had been controversially blocked by the previous government.
Proposals drawn up by OSP Architecture and LDA Design for a housing development on land adjacent to Hartley Road, Cranbrook, were called in by Michael Gove, then secretary of state, in April 2021.
Gove rejected the plans two years later against the advice of a planning inspector but his decision was challenged in the High Court and subsequently quashed in October 2023, bringing the scheme back to ministers.
> Also read: Gove blocks ‘generic’ Berkeley Homes scheme on design grounds
Last week, Matthew Pennycook wrote to the housebuilder on behalf of the secretary of state, Angela Rayner, to inform them of his decision to approve the scheme.
The proposed scheme lies in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which is in the Crane Valley near Tunbridge Wells.
Rayner considered that while the application proposals would affect the AONB, the harm arising would be “limited, particularly in the longer term”.
When he rejected the scheme in 2023, Gove described the proposals as being “of a generic suburban nature which does not reproduce the constituent elements of local settlements”.
In her own decision document, Rayner confessed to concerns about the layout and design of the proposals, “particularly the sensitivity and appropriateness of the design in the context of its setting”, but took account of the fact that only 20% of the site would be built on.
The scheme includes a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments and houses ranging from two to five bedrooms. It also includes 40% affordable housing and landscape enhancements.
Pennycook’s letter said the secretary of state agreed with the planning inspector that there was a “a compelling case for the need for development of this type in Cranbrook” and that “given the absence of evidence to support the existence of realistic genuine alternatives, it is also reasonable to conclude that this particular proposed development is needed”.
Alex Davies, managing director of Berkeley Southern Counties, said: “We welcome the secretary of state’s decision, which underlines the government’s commitment to housing delivery and growth.
”Our proposals, which were approved by the local authority, were carefully designed through close consultation with local partners and reflect the very specific design guidance for the area.”
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