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More on KentOnline
Councillors deciding whether to abandon plans for a 3.6million tonne sand quarry have received full advice to a legal challenge.
A proposed sand pit off Roughetts Road, Ryarsh, looked set to be dropped entirely last month when Kent County Council officers deemed the plan inappropriate due to its impact on the green belt.
However backers for the quarry issued a legal challenge on November 28, questioning the council's green belt assessment.
A full council meeting of KCC next Thursday will discuss Kent's Mineral and Waste Local Plan, which outlines what sites could potentially be used for quarrying sand.
Documents released ahead of the meeting show the legal advice handed back to KCC, in response to the promoter's legal challenge.
Guidance given by Invicta Law reads: "It is open to KCC to determine that the development fails to preserve openness and is therefore inappropriate.
"However, given that all of the features identified by the MSA on the West Malling Site will ordinarily be present in mineral development, further explanation should be provided as to why, in this particular instance, they render the development inappropriate."
KCC appears to favour an alternative site in Chapel Farm, Lenham, which the council argues will have less impact on the green belt.
Lenham's option also has far less public opposition.
The Ryarsh Protection Group formed in opposition to proposals after they were put forward in a consultation last December.
Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat handed in the petition, saying: "For a village the size of Ryarsh with only a few hundred residents this shows how the whole community and many more have come together as one on this issue."
However, KCC officials claim campaigners may have a long battle ahead of them as the decision needs to be signed off by the full council and will go out for a public consultation.
The council meets at 10am on Thursday, December 13.
