The saying "one rule for them, another for us" came true as Maidstone council twisted and turned over its planning policy to allow a development of new flats.

It has approved 35 flats in Eccleston Road, Tovil, to be built without the required 40% of affordable housing – a key feature of planning policy – after developers claimed affordable housing was not viable in the current climate.

But when it came to an idea that payments from the developer could fund a new community centre for Tovil, the council declared that was contrary to its adopted policies.

Instead, £55,125 will be spent on improvements to the towpath between Tovil footbridge and the Millenium bridge, or improvements to Woodbridge Drive.

The Middlefields Pension Fund originally had permission to build the flats – including 14 affordable homes – in February, but asked for the application to be reconsidered. Officers recommended that councillors accept instead a payment of £186,306 towards providing an affordable house elsewhere, plus the £55,125 payment, made under a section 106 agreement, intended to improve the community as compensation for new development.

Tovil Parish Council is in the process of buying the former St Stephen’s Infant School building in Church Road, to turn into the community centre.

Cllr Derek Mortimer (Lib Dem) made an impassioned plea on behalf of the parish council asking for the money to go towards the centre, but Rob Jarman, the council’s head of development management, said money had to first go to affordable housing or open space improvements.

After a suggestion by Cllr Stephen Paine (Con) that the money could improve the "dark and dangerous" towpath, councillors accepted this by a 9-2 majority.