Plans to flank a village recreation ground with 20 homes and a shop have come under fire amid fears of stretched infrastructure and claims such new facilities are not required.

Esquire Developments Ltd lodged plans for the housing, off Eastwood Road, in Ulcombe, near Maidstone, in October.

Planning documents submitted with the application said the properties would be “architecturally unique”. Of the 20 homes, eight are earmarked to be affordable.

The project would also include changing rooms for teams using the sports pitch at the rec and a shop.

Esquire wrote that it is keen on “strengthening the concept of the village green as the heart of the local community”.

However, 26 residents have written to Maidstone Borough Council’s planning department to oppose the project.

David Norman criticised the plans for the changing rooms and shop, saying the developers “could better offer community benefit by rebuilding the existing pavilion building and/or providing a donation which villagers could decide how to use”.

“This could be used for projects such as extending the existing village hall, improving flood resilience, or increasing local biodiversity,” he added.

Christine Tomlinson wrote: “The village shop is a complete lost leader, it is unnecessary and would fail very quickly, as other shops have done in the local villages.

“It would become an empty eyesore very quickly.

“We all chose to live in a village that did not have a shop and people have no problem with getting shopping supplies.”

“The size and siting of this building is ridiculous,” said Janine Monk.

“Ulcombe has no need of a shower block for the small number of children playing football at the weekend. Who would be responsible for cleaning them?”

The shop and sports changing rooms would be in the same building – a prefabricated structure behind the existing village hall.

The application also includes plans for motion-activated outdoor lighting on footpaths next to the planned houses.

However, Ms Monk added: “We have no street lights. We like the fact that we have no street lights.

“Ulcombe is a wonderful place to observe the night skies.

“Ulcombe is a tiny village with no amenities to speak of. We have very limited public transport and as such are reliant on cars.

“Our roads are already falling apart with the increased traffic from all the new houses in Headcorn.

“They are pot holed and muddy. We struggle to maintain water supplies in the village and are cut off more and more regularly.”

Nichola Sharp said the planned structure on the rec “will urbanise this peaceful rural place”.

Gaye Arnold wrote: “The traffic in the approximately 28 years that I have lived on this lane - it hardly qualifies as a road - has increased exponentially, the roads were not built for, and cannot cope with the amount of traffic that now uses these local lanes on a daily basis.”

Ulcombe Parish Council, however, responded to say it had no objection to the plans.

It is not yet known when Maidstone council’s planning department will decide on the application, but an internal deadline of January 2024 has been set.