Aldi has been refused permission to open an out-of-town supermarket.

The discount retailing giant had wanted to build a new store off Newnham Court Way, in Boxley, close to the Newnham Court Shopping Village and the M20 J7 interchange.

But the site that Aldi chose was on land that has been specifically set aside in Maidstone council’s Local Plan for high-quality medical uses, not retail, and it was that which chiefly scuppered the scheme when it came before the planning committee last night.

There was praise in general for the retailer, with Cllr Valerie Springett (Con) commenting that she thought Aldi had come up “with a cracking store design.”

But planning officers were clear that allowing retail development would be a breach of the 2017 Local Plan, and also of the Local Plan Review currently being examined by a government planning inspector, where the land has once again been allocated for “a medical campus with specialist facilities and associated uses in order to attract high value, knowledge-intensive employment.”

The area already holds the KIMS Hospital, the Cygnet Hospital and the Maidstone Innovation Centre.

Aldi’s agent Rob McLennan attempted to persuade councillors that the £6m store would take up only a small part of the allocated area, leaving plenty of room for more medical uses, but several councillors argued that allowing one retail use would open the door to other similar applications.

Visiting councillor Stanley Forecast (Con) urged his colleagues not to wait for a medical use for the land “that may never come about” but instead to grab the opportunity to secure “dozens of local jobs”.

Cllr Bob Hinder (Con) said that traffic in Bearsted Road and in the local network was already “horrendous” and an Aldi store would add to that problem. He said: “This is just not the right place.”

Cllr Vanessa Jones (Ind) said she had spoken to many people in Grove Green who were opposed to the store, because of the extra congestion it would bring to New Cut Way.

But visiting councillor Michelle Hastie (Con) urged the committee to support the application, saying that it would “help people in this cost-of-living crisis.”

She argued that although the new store might increase traffic in Bearsted Road, it would reduce it in Holland Road, in Maidstone town centre, where Aldi already has a store, and she suggested it would even reduce traffic in New Cut Way because there would be fewer shoppers heading for the Grove Green Tesco.

In the event, traffic issues were not one of the reasons that Maidstone gave for refusal, because Kent County Council, the highways authority, had raised no traffic objections.

Instead, the council’s head of planning, Rob Jarman, reminded the councillors: “This is a regulatory committee. You have to decide according to the regulations.

“This land forms part of the cake that you have identified in the Local Plan for medical uses, and Aldi wants to take a big slice out of it.”

Cllr Clive English (Lib Dem) agreed: “He said: “We can’t simply throw the Local Plan out with the bath water.”

He said: “There is nothing in this application that's particularly unique to justify making an exception. Even if the majority of people were in favour, we should stick to the planning regulations. If we do not, we may end up facing a judicial review [from Tesco].”

Cllr Tony Harwood (Lib Dem) wanted refusal but urged officers to add additional reasons. He suggested the fact that there would be intrusive lighting, that the site was too small and cramped to allow for effective landscaping, and that water run-off from the site would flow straight into the Vinters Valley Nature Reserve and then into the River Len, carrying pollution with it, should also be mentioned.

He added that as an out-of-town store was likely to have an adverse effect on the town centre, the applicants should have demonstrated that they had first sought more appropriate town centre sites via something known as the “sequential test”.

Cllr Harwood said: “I fear this is going to become a zombie application. No matter how many times we refuse it, the applicant will appeal and it it will keep coming back.

“So we need to record as many reasons for objection as possible, because later, we will be told we can’t object a second time around on matters that weren’t given as objections the first time.”

For Cllr Munford (Ind) the issue was simple. He said: “We have a Local Plan. If we allow this application, we will devalue the Local Plan and devalue the Local Plan Review – even before it is adopted.”

Cllr Stuart Jeffery (Green) said: “We have an NHS in crisis. Why would we even vaguely consider not trying to keep this land for health care facilities?”

Cllr Maureen Cleator (Lab), who confessed to having shopped in Aldi the night before, said: “It might bring jobs, but with respect to Aldi, these are not the jobs we are looking for.”

Cllr Springett said: “Once you move away from the Local Plan, you are in No Man’s Land. If we allow this, it will leave us at risk of losing other sites.”

Cllr Lottie Parfitt-Reid (Con) said: “I came to this meeting tonight broadly in support of the application. I love Aldi and like the idea of creating more jobs. But having listened to everything that has been said, I realise that we have a Local Plan and we must stick to it.”

Of the 12-member committee, 11 councillors voted to reject the application. Cllr Lewis Mackenna (Con) abstained.

The decision will come as a blow to Aldi, which had already set up a website advertising the new store in anticipation of gaining approval.

The borough had received 239 submissions about the application of which 174 (or 73%) had been letters of support.