# St Albans House, 98 East Hill, Dartford

- **Decision:** dismissed, 18 September 2026
- **Decided by:** Planning Inspector: F Leung
- **Authority:** Dartford (South East)
- **Appeal reference:** 6010288
- **Application reference:** DA/26/00051/FUL
- **Procedure:** written-representations
- **Development:** Vehicular crossover onto the A226, paved parking for two cars, partial removal of boundary wall
- **Site context:** inside-settlement
- **Green Belt:** no
- **Framework applied:** August 2026 NPPF
- **Determinative policies:** DP3(3), TR6(4), TR4(1)(c)(i), S4(1)
- **Development plan policies:** Dartford Local Plan 2024 M1, M16
- **Main issues:** character and appearance, highway safety
- **Tags:** tier-2, s4-within-settlement, s4-substantially-outweighed, design-refusal, tr6-highway-safety, retrospective, transitional-no-consultation

## Summary
A driveway and crossover on a prominent corner front garden onto the A226 in Dartford. Dismissed. The inspector applied the 2026 Framework without re-consulting, because it did not "fundamentally alter the relevant policy position" (DL ¶5). Both DP3(3) (design) and TR6(4)/TR4(1)(c)(i) (highway safety) were treated as weighing "substantially" against, so the modest parking and EV benefits were "substantially outweighed" under S4 (DL ¶23-26).

## What made the difference
Two Framework refusal policies were engaged together. The highway evidence was also deficient: the swept paths used cars shorter than the 4.8 m standard, which could not be cured by condition without changing the access design (DL ¶17, 20).

## Policy findings
- **DP3(3): fail (substantial weight).** loss of a large open corner front garden to parking; DP3(1) conflict without clear justification "weighs substantially" (DL 9-14, 24)
- **TR6(4): fail (substantial weight).** tracking used cars shorter than the 4.8 m highway-authority standard; reversing across the footway near a junction, crossing and bus stop (DL 16-21, 25)
- **S4(1): fail.** two spaces and an EV charger attract modest weight; substantially outweighed (DL 23, 26)

## Key facts
- Prominent corner plot at the A226/St Albans Road signalled junction, near a crossing, bus stop and school
- Swept paths drawn with cars shorter than 4.8 m

## Sources
- https://appeal-planning-decision.service.gov.uk/comment-planning-appeal/appeals/6010288
- https://appeal-planning-decision.service.gov.uk/published-document/8162faa5-4693-46a2-baad-ebb0e307c882

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Source: https://planningdistilled.org/research/england/nppf-navigator/decisions/PINS-6010288.html

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