Bosses of a surgery have warned they may have to close within the next few years after a new centre was refused.

Plans put forward by the Kingsnorth Medical Practice (KMP) in Ashford for a new surgery and pharmacy were turned down on Friday.

Staff had hoped they could replace their current facility in Ashford Road as the patient list already exceeds national guidelines - an excess which will only grow if the major developments of Kingsnorth Green and Court Lodge are built.

In addition, the existing site is in a floodplain, with the site having experienced 14 flood warnings in the two years up to December 2020.

However the new plot down the road - which would have also had 15 homes built on it - has been deemed unviable by Ashford Borough Council.

This is in spite of a patient survey in which 94% of 2,000 respondents supported the plan.

On the application itself, 42 comments supported the scheme compared to 31 objections.

The main reasoning behind the refusal was its infringement on the 'green buffer' between Kingsnorth and the proposed Kingsnorth Green development.

Planning officers were also concerned at the lack of a mitigation plan in regards to protecting water quality at the protected Stodmarsh Nature Reserve near Canterbury, which is deemed to be suffering from high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous.

But KMP senior partner Dr Jim Kelly says the selected site is ideal, and the scheme necessary for the continuation of a surgery in Kingsnorth.

"We've been looking for a suitable place for many years and these viable patches of land don't come around every day," he said.

"We can only really keep actively looking for a new site for the next three to four years because then it will be too late to get a spade in the ground."

Dr Kelly also has a stark warning that, due to the existing facility being "not fit for the future", the current lease will not be renewed.

He said: "In seven years we'll hand back the current lease, we just can't continue in a site that floods regularly and is so outdated.

"It will be a shame because I think Kingsnorth residents desperately need this centre and it will only get worse with the new developments being built in the area."

He fears the closure would create a domino effect as the surgery's thousands of patients would have to be transferred to other Ashford surgeries, which would then be faced with an excess of patients.

But an Ashford Borough Council spokesman said: “There is no question that there is a need for improved primary health facilities in this part of the borough to serve both existing residents and future residents of the garden community.

“The proposed site is on the green buffer zone, a protected area of landscaped open space set out in the Local Plan between Kingsnorth village and the proposed new Kingsnorth Green development to the south.

"The applicant has also not provided any mitigation as part of the application against the Stodmarsh habitats issue, which affects not only this area, but many parts of east Kent.

"Therefore the council has refused this application.

"We will continue to work closely with NHS Kent and Medway CCG, which leads in developing the strategy for the current and future health needs of local residents."

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