The owner of the Pilgrims Retreat holiday home park in Harrietsham has told residents he can't follow council rules on planning permission that could save them from eviction.

The council has said that enforcement action will begin in November, unless Sines Parks, owned by Fred Sines, submits a new planning application that corrects previous unauthorised expansions of the park and loss of landscape.

An agreement is vital for home-owners, many of whom bought their properties on the understanding that they had permission for permanent residential use, only to discover that the majority of the 198 authorised homes are restricted to holiday accommodation.

Planning officers had been ready to begin enforcement action in February, after lengthy negotiations with the park owners had failed, but councillors put a stop on any action until November while a final attempt to find a compromise was made, with a steering committee of councillors set up to achieve that aim.

However, residents have since been told by Mr Sines that the compromise being sought by the borough involved 49 homes being moved from the southern section of the park.

Mr Sines told residents there was only room to accommodate 25 of those homes elsewhere on the park.

One resident, who asked not to be named said: "This has obviously caused us all a lot of worry, because the implication is that 24 tenants will be evicted. Most people here are elderly and many are frail. This is putting us all under intolerable pressure."

Cllr Clive English (Lib Dem), the chairman of Maidstone council's planning committee said: "The steering group tasked with seeking a solution has agreed a revised layout that we believe resolves the planning issues.

"Mr Sines has received our proposal.

"He does not like it and is telling the residents that some or all are going to be evicted."

But Cllr English said: "The council does not believe that our proposal will necessitate that."

A spokesman for the council said that it had written to Mr Sines on June 24 setting out what the steering committee would consider a satisfactory solution to the southern part of the site.

The council was adamant that the total number of homes should not exceed 198 but there was room for some within the centre of the southern terraced section of the site, if properly mitigated by appropriate landscaping.

It provided a plan showing the native planting required, including a hedgerow to the extreme southern boundary.

However, the steering group was concerned about highway safety concerns raised by KCC and also wants Sines Parks to investigate providing passing places along Hogbarn Lane and Stede Hill and to investigate whether a shuttle bus could be provided to serve the park.

The steering group is comprised of Cllrs Clive English, Denis Spooner, Karen Chappell-Tay, Steve Munford, Tony Harwood, Keith Adkinson, Janetta Sams and Tom Sams.

Cllr English said he believed proposal offered a way to regularise the site and mitigate the landscape harm through Sines Parks submitting a fresh planning application.

Meanwhile, park residents have turned once again to Faversham and Mid Kent MP Helen Whately (Con) who has taken up their cause before, even raising the issue of Pilgrims Retreat in the House of Commons in March 2019.

Mrs Whately, who asked Maidstone council for an urgent meeting, said: “For too long residents have faced uncertainty about their future.

"People who bought homes at the site have been left in limbo. I’m continuing to work with local residents and Maidstone Borough Council to try to find a way forward. It’s in everyone’s interests to see this difficult situation resolved as soon as possible.”

The site off Hogbarn Lane was first established in 1967, but has been expanded several times and has had a chequered planning history.

It currently has planning permission for 180 holiday homes and 18 permanent residential pitches.

If no compromise is found by November, council officers already have approval to begin five enforcement measures.

These include instructions to reduce the number of caravans to 198 within two years; to remove all the excess caravans and materials from the site within 30 months, to cease the permanent use of the 180 holiday homes within four years, to restore the southern part of the site to its previous state before recent unapproved changes and finally to implement a previously agreed landscape strategy.

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