- Decision
- dismissed, 17 September 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: A James
- Authority
- Wealden (South East)
- Appeal reference
- 6010765
- Application reference
- WD/2025/2300/F
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Replacement shopfront with external roller shutter and shutter box on a Grade II listed building
- Site context
- inside settlement, conservation area, listed building setting
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- HE6, S4(1)
- Development plan policies
- Wealden Local Plan 1998 saved EN1, EN19, EN27, Wealden Core Strategy 2013 WCS14
- Main issues
- listed building; conservation area; setting
Summary
An external roller shutter and box on a replacement shopfront to a Grade II listed building on Mayfield's historic High Street. Appeal A (planning) dismissed alongside the LBC appeal. The heritage harm was low-end less than substantial but of considerable weight. The security justification was unevidenced, so under S4 the limited public benefits were substantially outweighed (DL ¶20-25).
What made the difference
There was no evidence of local crime and no evidence that an internal or open-mesh shutter would be inadequate, so there was no "clear and convincing justification" (DL ¶23). The extant consent for the shopfront without a shutter narrowed the case to the shutter alone.
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| HE6 | harm | considerable | lower end of less than substantial harm to the Grade II building, Mayfield CA and setting of Grade I/II* buildings; no evidence of crime or that less intrusive security would not work (DL 15-23) |
| S4(1) | fail | limited public benefits substantially outweighed (DL 24-25) |
Key facts
- Extant consent for the same shopfront without the shutter; the appeal turned only on the shutter
- Single decision letter covers the planning appeal (6010765) and the linked listed building consent appeal (6010767)
Related decisions
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.