MAIDSTONE councillors have thrown out a planning application to build 137 homes on an old factory site in Tovil.

The application by Westbury Homes to build on the former Duncan Web printing site off Farleigh Hill first came before the council's planning committee in October, but members deferred a decision at that time and instructed their planning officers to seek a number of changes to the application.

The councillors wanted the developers to redesign the layout to give more open space, to reduce noise intrusion for its potential residents and to introduce a "more Kentish" element, such as weather-boarding to the design of the homes. It also sought a greater number of four-bedroom properties be introduced to the scheme, which has a large number of one and two bedroom flats.

The application had been recommended for refusal by the borough's environmental health manager because the predicted noise levels for the homes from the traffic on the busy Farleigh Hill would exceed national and international standards.

The decision to reject the plan is unlikely to mean that there will not be building on the site in the long term. Outline planning permission for a change of use from industrial to residential was granted in 2001 and demolition of the factory buildings is already under way.