A public inquiry into plans which will shape the future of the County Town and surrounding areas – and where to build nearly 18,000 homes – is set to resume in May.

David Spencer, the government planning inspector, has announced two weeks of "in person" hearings to be held in Maidstone Town Hall starting on Monday, May 15, and a further week of evidence given virtually in the week starting June 5.

The inspector had held sessions previously in September, but suspended them when Maidstone council introduced a raft of new evidence during the hearing, with the inspector saying that nobody would have time to properly absorb the material.

At stake is the council's development plan which will shape the future of the town and its associated villages until 2031.

The council is obliged by government policy to find room for 17,660 new homes in that period, but its solution of where to place the housing – primarily on two Garden Village sites at Lenham Heath and at Lidsing – has proved controversial.

The plan also considers other matters such as the allocation of gypsy sites and the provision for commercial and retail use.

In the earlier sessions, the inspector addressed the wider issues, such as whether the council had followed the correct procedures when formulating the plan and fully consulted with neighbouring authorities.

Failure to consult saw Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council forced to withdraw its plan in 2021 and start again on a new one.

This time around Mr Spencer will be drilling down into individual sites and he has set a number of questions about each that he wants answered.

Those who made representations to the Regulation 19 public consultation on the Local Plan now have the opportunity to expand on their submissions – but they must be quick.

The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Wednesday.

Submissions should be emailed to the inquiry programme officer, Louise St John Howe at louise@poservices.co.uk

The inspector has published the questions he wants answered by respondents and these can be found here.

The relevant documents: are EX72 – Inspector’s Matters Issues and Questions for Stage 2 Hearings; and EX73 – Inspector’s Updated Guidance Notes.

Kate Hammond, chairman of the Save Our Heathlands group which is opposed to the Lenham Heath garden village scheme, said: "We have put in our submissions and requested the chance to speak.

"We shall be fighting this all the way to the end."

John Britt is the chairman of Lenham Parish Council.

He said: "Frankly the timing of these hearings is appalling. We are all up for election on May 4 – as is a third of Maidstone council.

"Plus there is the King's Coronation on May 6 followed by a Bank Holiday on May 8.

"We would like to speak, but it's very difficult to say who that could be.

"In addition, the council has not yet responded to the inspector's criticisms of the soundness of their garden village proposal, and until we see their proposed mitigation measures, it is difficult to know what our response will be."