Maidstone council has received more than 600 letters of objection a controversial plan for two new schools to be built on a nature reserve in Boxley.

It was expected that several hundred protestors were ready to descend on the Town Hall tonight (Thursday) when the planning committee was due to rule on the application from Bowmer and Kirkland to build a primary school and a secondary school for students with special needs on Popes Field, near the Kent Medical Campus at Junction 7 of the M20.

Officers had recommended approval of the application and also of a secondary application which would enable the site of the nature reserve to be moved.

But fearful that councillors would pay more attention to the public’s protests than their own advice, the officers are now recommending both applications are pulled from the agenda.

A statement said: “In light of the exceptional number of objections received, officers now consider that a decision should not be made in the election period.

“The council has an obligation to minimise the risk that the fair and objective

determination of the application may be compromised.”

The final decision on whether to postpone rests with the members of the planning committee, but they are unlikely to go against the advice.

Protestors welcomed the move. Mary Richards of the Bearsted and Thurnham Society said it would give objectors more time to prepare their case and also allow the council to find a larger hall to accommodate all those who would turn up.