The sprawling grounds of a manor house owned by a nightclub boss and former councillor could be developed into a 100-home estate.

The land in Canterbury was included on a lucrative list of plots ripe for housing when Louise Jones-Roberts was still in office.

But with the 39-year-old’s ownership of the site never declared publicly, questions have been asked about the transparency of the process.

A special privacy exemption meant the mother-of-three made every declaration required of her, and she says she sought only to keep her address private after years of threats from disgruntled clubbers.

Now, ahead of an independent review of events, we take a look at how the saga has unfolded and speak to the woman at the centre of it all…

The land

In March 2018, Cllr Louise Jones-Roberts bought the six-bedroom Milton Manor on the edge of Canterbury for £1.95 million.

The Georgian-style property - surrounded by acres of picturesque woodland - appeared the perfect place to bring up her young family with her husband Matthew, who 14 months later would join her on the city council.

But in the four years that followed the move, the couple’s long-term plans appear to have changed.

Because in October 2022 the site was included in the council’s draft Local Plan - a document zoning land across the district for large-scale housing developments.

Planning officers had assessed Milton Manor suitable for “approximately 100 new dwellings” after it had been put forward by agents acting for Mrs Jones-Roberts.

But she says when she bought the site she had no idea about its true development potential.

“It was a doer-upper,” she said, referencing work needed to the property.

“We were not blind to the fact there was land to the very front of it we thought we could probably sell for self-build sites, but we were talking about two or three - literally enough to pay for the renovations.

“Then a developer spoke to us - a friend of the family - who said ‘you realise there’s building going on all around you?’.

“He said we could probably put in for a few houses, and then he put forward the idea of a care home. He said we could sell that and it would pay off all of our borrowings and we’d have some money left over for the house.”

Mrs Jones-Roberts says during later discussions with planning officers she was told the site was more suitable for housing.

Land elsewhere in Thanington was already being developed, and a planning bid for 400 homes on the neighbouring Cockering Farm had been submitted five months before Mrs Jones-Roberts bought Milton Manor.

On being told a residential development was more suitable, she said: “We thought maybe 30 houses, and at a real push 39 houses.

“Then the planning department said 80 houses. Then they came back and said 90 houses.”

By the time the final draft plan was published in October last year the site had been earmarked for 100 homes.

The cabinet meeting

A week after the draft Local Plan was published it appeared before Canterbury City Council’s Cabinet - a committee of Conservative councillors chaired by the then-leader, Ben Fitter Harding.

Its members - who did not have Louise or Matthew Jones-Roberts among them - agreed to put the hefty planning document out to public consultation.

When fully adopted, the value of any housing site included in the final plan would soar given a near guarantee of planning permission.

Just two months after the Cabinet meeting, and with the 12-week consultation still ongoing, the first official proposals emerged to build 100 homes on the Milton Manor land.

Development firm CCH Build Solutions submitted an application to the council seeking information on whether a detailed study was needed on the environmental impact of such a scheme.

It added it intended to submit a bid for outline planning permission within two months, with a story on the proposals being reported by KentOnline.

Soon after, we received information the site was owned by Louise Jones-Roberts, who, along with her husband, was still a serving councillor.

The ownership was easily verified online, so KentOnline was keen to know what declarations had been made by the Conservative couple.

Failure to declare a disclosable financial interest “without reasonable excuse” is a criminal offence.

KentOnline submitted a Freedom of Information request to Canterbury City Council, asking who knew about the site’s ownership, what declarations had been made and to see emails between the parties involved.

Our enquiries were rebuffed, with the authority citing a series of data protection defences it now says were linked to a special privacy exemption.

But, following a recent article on events in current affairs magazine Private Eye, the council’s stance changed, with it finally offering answers to KentOnline and inviting further questions.

So we asked them…

How it all began

In January 2018, the city council says Louise Jones-Roberts notified officers “of the imminent purchase of Milton Manor…requesting this to be added to her register of interests”.

The register is a list of a councillor’s financial interests, or any benefits they receive that it could be argued might influence their actions.

But Louise Jones-Roberts’ ownership of Milton Manor was kept off the publicly viewable register at her request.

‘I am nervous about people knowing where I live because of what I do for a living...’

The council’s legal chief - known as the monitoring officer - had agreed to withhold the information under section 32 of the Localism Act 2011.

The Act says such exemptions can be made where disclosure of the interest could lead to a councillor or “person connected” being “being subject to violence or intimidation”.

A council spokesman said: “While it would not be appropriate to provide the exact detail of this section 32 ruling, we can clearly state that all future decisions on transparency flowed from it.”

Mrs Jones-Roberts was a little more forthcoming, telling KentOnline the request was made to keep her home address private, adding that similar exemptions had been applied to her previous personal residences.

“There’s nothing incongruous with that,” said the businesswoman, who runs Club Chemistry and Tokyo Tea Rooms in Canterbury.

“I am nervous about people knowing where I live because of what I do for a living.

“People know when we’re at work - our cars are parked outside the venue. They know when the house hasn’t got us in it. Our kids are here with a babysitter, and it scares the s*** out of me, to the point where sometimes I’ll be at work and I have to come home.”

Mrs Jones-Roberts says over the years she has been the subject of intimidation and even “murder threats” while at work.

“There are nasty, violent people about,” she said.

“They’re few and far between, but it becomes all-consuming.

“I can’t stress enough that it doesn’t happen all the time, but the ones that happen, they really stay with you.

“If these people know where I live, and I p*** them off, they’re going to come here when we’re not here.

“That is why the section 32 [ruling is there].”

Plans afoot

In August 2018 - five months after buying Milton Manor - Mrs Jones-Roberts became a director of the newly formed development company CCH Milton Manor Park Ltd.

She established the firm with her father, Brian Jones, and local developer Clive Hammond.

Asked why, she said it was with the intention of developing self-build plots or a care home on the site.

Two years later, on June 29, 2020, the Milton Manor land was put forward for potential inclusion in the council’s draft Local Plan.

The submission was made by Iceni Projects, a planning agent acting for Mr and Mrs Jones-Roberts.

Sixteen days later, Iceni informed Canterbury City Council in an email that the site was owned by the Conservative couple.

An excerpt reads: “Both councillors are keen to ensure that their land ownership is known by officers to ensure disclosure.”

The city council says all officers involved in creating the draft Local Plan knew who the owners of Milton Manor were.

“Formulating a Local Plan is a team effort and all those involved in the project would have been aware of the ownership position,” a spokesman said.

‘Both councillors are keen to ensure that their land ownership is known by officers to ensure disclosure...’

In May 2021 a report that would help shape the draft Local Plan was debated by the council’s former Policy Committee.

Among its members was Cllr Louise Jones-Roberts, who declared a conflict at the start of the meeting.

An officer told councillors: “We also have a voluntary announcement from Louise Jones-Roberts, who has a financial interest in one of the sites submitted for the call for sites, related to the Local Plan item.

“Cllr Jones-Roberts will abstain from the voting related to that item.”

It would be the only time that any declaration relating to an interest in the site - although not identified to be Milton Manor - was made on the public record.

The council says the section 32 ruling exempted the Conservative member from declaring more specific details.

In October last year, the draft Local Plan was published and a week later put out to consultation by Cabinet, which then approved the minutes at its next meeting on November 9.

On January 5 the same minutes came before Full Council - a gathering of all councillors, including Mr and Mrs Jones Roberts.

Neither declared an interest as they joined other members in approving the minutes by general assent to be entered into the council’s corporate record.

Critics argue this was the point where their ownership of Milton Manor should have been placed on the public record, but the council says there was no requirement for them to do so.

“The minutes were received at Full Council to give the opportunity for points to be raised before becoming part of the corporate record,” a spokesman said.

“There was no discussion so, in the absence of any dissent, they were approved by general assent. Therefore no interests were required to be declared.”

At the same meeting, the minutes of a licensing sub-committee hearing were also agreed by general assent, without discussion.

But both Louise Jones-Roberts and her husband abstained from the item “due to their being employed within the licensing trade”.

Asked why they sat out of one vote but not the other, Mrs Jones-Roberts said votes had been held at the licensing committee relating to licence holders known to her, with the committee also a “quasi-judicial” body, unlike Cabinet.

She added she and her husband had sought advice from other councillors and the monitoring officer and were told they were not required to declare an interest in the Cabinet meeting minutes.

Responding to claims they should have seen the Full Council meeting as an opportunity to be open about their ownership of the site, she added: “We had a choice.

“I’d have had to have gone out of my way to put that in the public domain, which felt so counter-intuitive for my own family’s wellbeing, as opposed to ticking a box for someone else.

“In terms of public interest, yeah, it probably would have been great for everybody to know, but at what cost?”

‘Public trust damaged’

Critics of the process say the couple’s significant financial interest in the Milton Manor site should have outweighed any privacy exemption on their personal address.

Dave Smith, who has lived in Thanington for 24 years and is a former parish councillor for the area, is among those to have raised concerns with the city council.

He believes the authority should have withdrawn the Section 32 exemption when the site was included in the draft Local Plan.

The decision was reassessed earlier this year, but the council’s monitoring officer reinforced the ruling.

Mr Smith said: “'Councillors may have a right to withhold their private address, but when that address becomes a potential development site for 100 houses, and potentially worth millions, it is no longer simply a private address.

“Particularly when they have set up a company specifically to develop the site, and put it into a draft Local Plan drawn up without the knowledge of other councillors or the public.

“It’s about maintaining public trust in the processes, and in the transparency and openness of public business.”

Mr Smith says the council’s monitoring officer had revealed to him there was a Section 32 exemption, but not why it was granted.

“I said if you can’t tell me the reason then that creates a vacuum that people look at and then make a judgement accordingly,” he said.

“I have no issue with anyone pursuing a potential commercial venture, or have any political axe to grind on this. My issue is with the public perception of the process and also the potential impact on public trust.

“If you don’t make a declaration in a public way it looks like - looks like - it’s being kept secret. It sets minds running.

“It’s about maintaining public trust in the processes, and in the transparency and openness of public business.”

Councillors are also expected to adhere to a set of basic standards known as the Nolan principles, which promote openness and transparency in public office.

Another critic of the Milton Manor saga, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “The Nolan principles of public life, under which all councillors are supposed to operate, demand openness, honesty, selflessness and objectivity.

‘It’s about maintaining public trust in the processes, and in the transparency and openness of public business...’

“'If these ethical standards had been applied from the outset then the council, and the councillors involved, would not be in the position they are in now.”

Asked whether her actions were in line with the Nolan principles, Mrs Jones-Roberts replied: “I go by the Jo Cox principles,” referencing the Labour MP who was murdered outside her constituency surgery in 2016.

Dr Emma Alleyne - a friend of Mrs Jones-Roberts and a reader in forensic psychology at UKC - said the former councillor was acting in the best interests of her family at all times.

"The threats of harm and violence to the Jones-Roberts family are evidenced and legitimate," she wrote in an email to KentOnline.

"The consequences of not taking such threats seriously could result in devastating outcomes for the Jones-Roberts family specifically, and victims more broadly, because nearly 50% of threats result in acts of violence.

"Those suggesting she should have done more than was required of her, given the reason the exemption was applied, are delegitimising those threats."

The council leader

Before he lost his seat in May’s local elections, former council leader Ben Fitter-Harding was the portfolio holder for the draft Local Plan.

He also chaired the Cabinet that voted to put the draft document out to consultation in October last year.

Despite it being Mrs Jones-Roberts’ belief that most councillors on the Cabinet knew the site was hers, Cllr Fitter-Harding says he was in the dark.

"I was aware Louise had a site in [the draft Local Plan] but didn't know which one it was, just that one of them was hers,” he told KentOnline.

“I didn't need to know. It didn't matter.

"What relevance does it have, if the proper processes have been followed?

"Anybody is able to submit a site. She wasn't abusing her position.”

‘If I’d have had any discretion [on sites] do you think I would have put half of Chestfield in the plan?’

Despite being the lead councillor for the draft Local Plan, Mr Fitter-Harding says the part he played in its formation was limited.

“I was advised and shown data, but I had no discretion on which sites were included,” he said.

Referencing land controversially earmarked for housing in his own ward - likely costing him support at the ballot box - he added: “If I’d have had any discretion [on sites] do you think I would have put half of Chestfield in the plan?”

Mr Fitter-Harding says there was nothing "controversial" about the Milton Manor site and it was not considered one "up for debate".

“If Louise hadn't told council officers it would have been questionable, but she did,” he said.

"As far as I was aware all proper processes had been followed."

Sitting on a goldmine?

Planning documents show the development of Milton Manor is now being led by CCH Build Solutions, of which Clive Hammond is the sole director.

Companies House documents reveal CCH Milton Manor Park Ltd was wound up in September 2021 - a year after Mrs Jones-Roberts had stepped down as a director.

She never declared her involvement with the firm on her register of interests, but given it had never traded or had any assets she was not required to.

Meanwhile, a cross-party working group of councillors continues to analyse the feedback from the initial Local Plan consultation ahead of a second draft being published early next year.

Mrs Jones-Roberts, who with her husband did not stand for re-election in May, confirms she still intends to develop the site, but disputes reports in Private Eye she stands to make £20 million from the project.

A local developer familiar with the site told KentOnline its value, when combined with planning permission for 100 houses, is closer to between £8 million and £10 million.

Mrs Jones-Roberts hinted at this being a more accurate figure, but would not say how much her team hopes the land will sell for, citing “commercial sensitivities”.

Including the purchase price, she says she expects to have invested more than £4 million to reach a stage where planning permission is secured.

Any profit from the sale of the site would then be split with Clive Hammond, with £500,000 borrowed from her father also returned.

“Don’t get me wrong, don’t pray for me just yet - I’m not pleading poverty by any stretch of the imagination. If this works, I will be a happy woman,” she said.

“If it doesn’t work I would have wasted a huge amount of money. It’s a risk, but you don’t take those risks unless the potential rewards are decent.

“It’ll be great if it happens, but if it doesn’t I’m going to get a couple of really big rottweilers and continue to love where I live.

“We have actually got an alsatian coming, so that is going to be interesting.”

Mrs Jones-Roberts described claims she’s sitting on a goldmine as “laughable”, adding: “As if I’d be stood on the door of a nightclub if I had £20 million coming in - if only.

“If we walked away with 1/20th of what Private Eye said [in profit], I would be amazed.”

Independent review

With the case of Milton Manor generating column inches in the national press, an official complaint and fierce debate on social media, Canterbury City Council has commissioned an independent review of events.

The authority says all processes were followed and all declarations required were made at every stage.

‘There has only been one decision made regarding the draft Local Plan, which was the Cabinet decision to go out to consultation. Mr and Mrs Jones-Roberts took no part in that meeting…’

A spokesman told KentOnline: “Mr and Mrs Jones-Roberts declared the property on their declaration of pecuniary interests forms and their ownership was highlighted by the agent when putting forward the site.

“It is the responsibility of each councillor to resolve any conflicts of interests appropriately so if a council meeting agenda item relates to an interest that they have, they need to declare it at the meeting and leave for the debate and vote on that item.

“There has only been one decision made regarding the draft Local Plan, which was the Cabinet decision to go out to consultation. Mr and Mrs Jones-Roberts took no part in that meeting.”

In the wake of calls for scrutiny of the processes, they will now be reviewed by independent auditors.

A city council spokesman added: “Given the interest of residents, councillors and the media in this case, Canterbury City Council’s Service director for finance and procurement has asked the East Kent Audit Partnership (EKAP) to look into it.

“Typically, the EKAP examines whether the rules and procedures we have in place are robust, whether they have been followed and whether they can be tightened.

“The EKAP’s findings will be reported to the council’s Audit Committee in the usual way.”