Boxley Parish Council has "reluctantly" taken the decision not to challenge the grant of planning permission by Maidstone council for two schools on Popes Field in Weavering.

The parish council considered the possibility of seeking a judicial review of the borough's decision, but would have to prove not the the borough's decision was wrong, but that the way they arrived at the decision was wrong.

Instead, the chairmen of Boxley and Bearsted Parish Councils, Bob Hinder and Michael Bollom, wrote to Alison Broom, the chief executive of Maidstone council with the questions that they felt needed answering.

Cllr Hinder said: "Unfortunately we are of the opinion that no matter how much money we were to throw at challenging this decision, it was never going to be reversed."

The proposal for a primary school and secondary special needs school had been opposed by several parishes and more than 600 individuals.

Work on the Popes Field school site will start in mid-July and at the same time the roundabout for a new Science and Technology School is being put in place on New Cut Road, requiring the closure of Grovewood Drive South.

Cllr Hinder added “I can’t blame anyone in Grove Green and Weavering for feeling angry and let down by the planning system. Popes Field is not the right location for the schools, the massive residential development is not at Grove Green or Bearsted, it is much further away, and everyone with an ounce of common sense can see that it is where houses are being built that schools should be provided.

"Developers should be forced to provide a school where it is actually needed and where students can walk to school rather than somewhere miles away."