Medway Autos, Kent

PROJECTS

Medway Autos, Kent

Project: Change of use – 30 seat banqueting hall with overnight accommodation
Location: Sittingbourne, Kent
Client: S.R.H. Ltd
Services: Transport planning

What it was trying to achieve

A former car showroom and vehicle maintenance workshop in Sittingbourne, Kent was proposed for change of use as a 300-seat banqueting hall incorporating a commercial kitchen and overnight accommodation. Two planning applications for the same proposal had been refused on transport grounds before Calibro became involved. The client wanted to know whether any options remained, and whether pursuing a third application or an appeal was worth the effort.

What made it complex

The refusals were not driven by technical inadequacy in the transport evidence. Parking provision had been agreed with the Highway Authority on both occasions. The council’s concern was different: the building was physically capable of seating up to 500 guests, not the 300 proposed. The council did not believe a planning condition could enforce the lower figure. If 500 were seated, the agreed parking would be insufficient, creating pressure on the A2 London Road. No amount of evidence about the 300-seat scenario addressed that concern, because the objection was to what the building made possible rather than what the application proposed.

What it produced

The council voted unanimously to grant planning permission in April 2021. The change of use that had been refused twice on transport grounds was approved without a single contrary vote. The case turned not on new technical evidence but on identifying the council’s actual concern and presenting a response that addressed it.

How we thought about it

We took a deliberate step back before we stepped in. Our first task was not to review the technical adequacy of the previous submissions. It was to understand why two applications with Highway Authority-agreed parking had both been refused. The council’s objection was structural rather than evidential: a condition could not reliably constrain the use to 300 seats when the building’s capacity was 500. Once that was understood, the strategy shifted from producing more evidence to addressing the specific concern. The case was reframed around the council’s actual objection, with the conditions proposed to meet it directly. Calibro presented to planning committee.

Calibro’s logical approach to seeing constraints as an opportunity assists in achieving a desirable solution that is communicated clearly and robustly to ensure the projects are driven forward successfully.

Andy Cattermole

Redrow Homes PLC

Senior Planning Manager