Plans for a huge development behind a GP surgery have been approved despite being rejected twice before.

The proposals for a care home, retirement complex, hospice and a unit for adults living with autism in Greensand Place in Linton, Maidstone, have been given the go-ahead.

The application, submitted to Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) last November, was made jointly by four organisations and consists of four different schemes for the 21 acres behind Greensand Health Centre.

Care company Aspire will build a two-storey home with 73 bedrooms and 28 parking spaces while Coral Living is behind a complex of 14 units for adults with learning disabilities or autism.

There will also be bungalows built by Stonebound for the over 60s. The plans were for 58 but MBC added a “suggested condition” that are no more than 52 to maintain greenery.

The Heart of Kent Hospice will also be moving from its home in Aylesford to another part of the development, giving it a bigger and more modern space along with 92 parking spaces.

Permission was granted during an MBC planning committee on Thursday, June 20.

However, the meeting heard Linton Parish Council was against the scheme, which it argued would put a strain on the community’s services.

Parish councillor Cllr Bernard Cresswell said: “All our local infrastructure, roads, utilities and support services are overstretched and, in places, broken due to overdevelopment.

“Greensand Health Centre is swamped with demand – it is not coping.

“You are increasing the problems for existing patients and placing these new vulnerable ones in harm's way.”

Linton also objected on the grounds that there is no pharmacy at the current GP surgery in Greensand Place.

But MBC said care home bed spaces are running at less than half the need, and there is a growing necessity for elderly accommodation in the borough.

Heart of Kent Hospice chief executive Rachel Street said: “Soon there will be more deaths than births in the UK.

“There is a significant need for care provision and this facility goes a long way to meeting that.”

She added that the hospice had been looking for a new site for seven years, and the space proposed is the only one that meets their needs.

Last year, it cared for more than 2,000 patients and their families and the demand on its services is increasing.

However, it will need to raise £15m to fund the new site which is expected to take several years.

Some people also raised concerns regarding the possible harm to green spaces and countryside.

They claimed that previous versions of the application in August 2021 and March 2023 had been rejected on these grounds, until the addition of the hospice in November.

Coxheath and Loose Parish Councils also objected due to the impact on the already busy Linton Crossroads – although the applicant has agreed to a contribution of £40,000 to improve it.

The proprietor of Apple Tree Cottage, which will neighbour the care home, added that the development would result in an “utterly devastating” loss of privacy for their family.

They said: “The enormous care home would loom over and encase our family home – it will make us feel like prisoners.”

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

The application received seven representations in support, and 32 against.