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A controversial proposal for 47 flats to be built opposite a railway station has been rejected in a tight vote.
Three blocks of flats were proposed for the corner of Station Road, Greenhithe, and would have been up to four storeys high.
The site is opposite the rail link for Bluewater Shopping Centre and close to Woodlands Way.
The applicant, Regent Land, had planned to build 66 homes there in January 2020 but withdrew after concerns were raised over the scale of the homes and issues with parking.
When it returned to Dartford council’s development control board on Thursday, November 11, councillors were once again torn between a need for more housing in Dartford and over-development.
Cllr Tom Maddison (Lab) said: “This is a very difficult application I must admit.
“One of the documents we regularly produce is our housing need survey, and recently our last one prioritised the need for family homes.
“We’ve got flats, we’ve got enough flat development in this borough. How much notice when we look at these plans do we take of our housing need survey?
“In the last 18 months over Covid we feel we need more areas for gardens but we are looking at balconies."
Cllr Maddison added it would be nice for future residents to be able to catch the train up to London but stressed it was not "our necessity as a borough".
"We need family homes," he concluded.
Leader of the Independent Party Group, Cllr Sue Butterfill agreed and said biodiversity was a problem: “I’ve sat here before and said you can’t move without hitting traffic, I think it’s just become ridiculous.
“I feel for those living in Woodlands Way because they’ve lived with this for a long while thinking 'What are they going to do up there?'"
She added that a plan to put grass on the roof "doesn’t deal with the issue”.
More than 160 objections were made to the proposal, including from residents in Woodlands Way, who fear the flats would overlook their properties.
However, during the meeting the applicant said the windows had been angled away from Woodlands Way and met planning regulations.
Cllr Danny Nicklen (Con) was content with the proposal and said more houses were needed in Dartford.
“I totally understand where my colleagues are coming from," he said. "There’s a lot of passion and I sympathise and recognise that.
“We have to view this as it is. We’d like to build more family homes, of course we would. But we need more housing in this area to meet demand.
“A lot of these objections are opinions around over-development and the development not being wanted - these are opinions not facts. I don’t mean to be harsh, I’m just saying it as it is.
“We can’t get away from the fact we need more properties, people are wanting to move to Dartford.”
“We can’t get away from the fact we need more properties, people are wanting to move to Dartford.”
Cllr Brian Garden (Con) also said the railway station would attract more commuters than families: “We spend a lot of time debating this particular site and whether we should have family homes there or something else.
“Unfortunately we are required to develop high intensity buildings near transport hubs. Whether we like it or not this is near a transport hub, it has come about because of the train station.
“Despite some people not liking the style of it, it is far better than previous proposals we’ve had here. I appreciate this architect has spread it out and made it not as overbearing as it could’ve been.
“I don’t think we really like it but we must acknowledge the fact that it is where it is."
In the final vote nine councillors refused the application with eight in favour, as they concluded the building would be out of character in Greenhithe, detract from the street scene and was of poor architectural standards.
