Henry Stone.
Active — last recorded decision May 2026
A case officer at Bexley with an approval rate of 95% across 178 decided planning applications, spanning 8 wards.[1] Decision speed and appeal performance publish when decision notices are ingested.
Topic mentions per 1,000 words of their own report text (boilerplate stripped), indexed against all parsed Bexley reports. Attention, not stance.
Mark = borough average (1×). Bar capped at 2×.
Stone's caseload is distinctive for RETROSPECTIVE outbuilding retention applications where he systematically measures distance to EVERY surrounding neighbouring boundary (naming each adjoining road and property in turn — Maxwell Road, Hook Lane, Huxley Road) with precise metre figures, rather than focusing only on the most-affected neighbour. He is also notable for engaging with objections that raise non-planning matters (environmental impact of construction noise/smoke, alleged historic tree removal) by explicitly stating they are 'not a material planning consideration' rather than silently ignoring them. On lawful development certificates he applies a structured 4-year/10-year immunity framework, cross-referencing satellite imagery, sales records and the specific legislative regime in force at the time of construction (the pre-2024 four-year rule vs the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023's unified 10-year period) to reach a 'balance of probability' finding.
· on retrospective outbuilding retention, systematically measures and states the distance to EVERY surrounding neighbouring property/road by name, not just the most-affected one, before reaching an overall amenity finding
· explicitly labels objections raising non-planning matters (construction noise/smoke complaints, historic tree removal) as 'not a material planning consideration' rather than silently disregarding them
· on LDCE applications, applies the correct legislative immunity regime (pre-2024 four-year rule vs LURA 2023's unified 10-year period) based on the construction date, cross-referenced against satellite imagery and sales records to reach a balance-of-probability finding
· the precise distance (metres) from a retrospective structure to EVERY surrounding neighbouring boundary, not only the closest or most obviously affected one
· whether an objection raises a genuine material planning consideration or a non-planning matter (noise/nuisance during construction, environmental concerns) that should be stated as immaterial rather than ignored
· which enforcement-immunity legislative regime (four-year vs the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023's ten-year period) applies given the structure's construction date, checked against satellite imagery and sales records
“This matter is not a material planning consideration in relation to the retention of the outbuilding and does not impact the assessment of the application”
25/01454/FUL
“The development clearly pre-dates the commencement of the unified 10-year enforcement period introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and therefore is immune from enforcement by virtue of the passage of time”
26/00141/LDCE
Measured from 194 published Bexley officer reports written by this officer, with recited policy boilerplate stripped before any counting. These describe how this officer works and writes — they are not outcome predictions. Every quote is from a named public report.
The policies this officer cites most in their own reports — times cited across 194 parsed reports. Whether refusals citing each survive appeal isn't traced per policy yet.
Show all 8 rows
Where this officer's caseload concentrates, 2025–26.[1] Click the map above to focus this page on a ward, or a row to open the ward.
- [1]Applications decided, approval rate, per-year trend and ward breakdown — London Borough of Bexley planning register and published decision notices, 2025–26. · methodology
- [2]Appeal overturn and decision-time benchmarks — Planning Inspectorate (PINS) appeal decisions and application date pairs; not yet computed per officer, shown as a dash until they are. · PINS appeals casework
- [3]Condition load — Bexley's decision-notice parsing is limited coverage, so no borough or officer figure is shown.
- [4]"How this officer decides", the policy playbook and all quotes — parsed from 194 published Bexley officer reports written by this officer, recited policy boilerplate stripped before counting; disposition text coded from their own reasoning with every quote machine-verified verbatim. Descriptive of how they work — not outcome predictions.