There’s likely to be standing room only in the public gallery at Maidstone Town Hall this Thursday, when councillors meet to consider two controversial planning applications.

The town’s two largest amenity groups, the North Loose Residents Association and the Bearsted and Thurnham Society, have both issued a call for members to attend the debate to show councillors the strength of opposition to the plans.

The NLRA is concerned about proposals to build 36 homes on a field off Cripple Street, adjacent to the Loose Valley Conservation Area.

The proposed access is onto one of the narrowest parts of the road, which is already suffering as a rat-run by traffic trying to avoid the Wheatsheaf junction on the Loose Road.

NLRA told its members: “Warm or cold, wet or dry, be there and get this application refused.”

The Bearsted and Thurnham Society is concerned about an application to build 50 homes on Lilk Meadow in Bearsted, a field that frequently floods and also has traffic issues.

They have told their members to be outside the Town Hall half an hour before the 6pm meeting start to greet arriving councillors with banners.