A controversial plan to wrap 950 homes around a small village – doubling its size – has attracted more objections than it currently has homes.

To date, Tonbridge and Malling council has received 777 individual letters of objection to plans for a huge housing development in Eccles.

Nestling within the parish of Aylesford, the village of Eccles currently only has 752 homes.

The council has also received hundreds more letters, which it has recorded only as "neighbours' comments".

But now the planning authority has upset residents by telling them they have only 14 days to respond to a number of amendments which the developer Trenport Investments has made to its plans.

Steve Beadle of Victoria Street, Eccles, is member of the Eccles Action Group steering committee, which is opposed to the scheme.
He said: "The council only emailed residents on January 17 to tell us there had been a raft of amendments that affect things like the parking, the sports fields and the community centre.

"They've given us only to January 31 to respond. That's not enough time to review the changes thoroughly."

As such residents have asked the borough for an extension.

Trenport Investments has submitted plans to build 950 homes on land east and west of Bull Lane, on a site previously mislabelled as Bushey Wood.

The 63-hectare plot covers mainly agricultural land, but also includes St Marks School and the village allotments.

The construction company is proposing to set aside land for a two-form entry primary school to replace St Marks, which is only one-form entry.

It also promises the provision of two full-size sports pitches and two junior pitches, plus a community hub and 22 hectares of "semi-natural open space".

But residents are unhappy and say the development would engulf their village, more than doubling its size and placing intolerable pressure on local infrastructure.

Emily Cat said: "Eccles is a small village that is being surrounded, we can't move on the roads as it is!"

Trenport argues that one major benefit for villagers will be the diversion of through traffic away from Bull Lane, the narrow main road through the village.

It plans an access to the new estate from two points, north and south of the village, and says by partly closing Bull Lane it can ensure in future the main thoroughfare must go through the new development.

Villagers have in the past complained about speeding traffic trough the village putting pedestrians at risk through the narrow lane.

A further access would be provided from New Cut Road to the north, via a newly created roundabout.

The site was allocated for up to 900 homes under Tonbridge and Malling's first draft local plan, which was withdrawn in July 2021 after it was rejected by a government planning inspector.

It is currently working on a new blueprint.

Action group member Mr Beadle said there were a number of illogicalities in the local plan.

He said: "For a start it states the site is only 200 yards from the nearest bus-stop. That's true.

"But unfortunately there are no buses since Arriva withdrew the service."

The development land has been owned by Trenport since 2001 but is largely let to tenant farmers.

The land also includes the village allotment site and a football pitch, leased to the parish council and Eccles Football Club respectively.

Villagers campaigned against the inclusion of the site in Tonbridge and Malling's draft local plan when it was first mooted more than four years ago, handing in 1,400 letters of objection to the borough, but they were unable to get it excluded.

Mr Beadle said: "We are leafletting the village now encouraging villagers to respond to the amendments, but we only have a few days.

"Many of our villagers are elderly and not online."

But he added: "If they want to write paper objections we will gather them up and deliver them to the council offices."

Details of the planning application can be found here under the application number 22/00113.

Villagers have previously voiced a distrust of Trenport following its creation of the 1,000-home Peters Village in nearby Wouldham.

One objector told the council: "When Peters Village was built, Trenport promised a new medical centre. This has not been fulfilled.

"Trenport also promised to increase buses from once an hour to twice an hour. The reality is that the local bus service has been reduced to twice a day.

He added: "It seems that what Trenport proposes on paper, they do not follow through. Big promises. Zero delivery."

A Trenport spokesman said: "Our planning application for Bushey Wood in Eccles has been designed to provide a wide range of sustainable high quality homes and an extensive range of benefits for the local community.

"This includes a significant contribution towards providing a new bus service to serve the community, which has been agreed through close liaison with Kent County Council.

"Trenport has previously provided funding for the local bus service but due to the change in demand and travel patterns as a result of the pandemic the service was no longer viable and withdrawn. "The new bus service, to be delivered as part of the proposed development at Eccles, will serve Peters Village, Eccles and the surrounding area and will be supported by Trenport.

On the subject of missing medical facilities, he added: "Trenport is also working with the NHS and their consultants regarding the delivery of a medical centre at Peters Village.

"Trenport has reserved the land for the medical centre and recently renewed the consent. We are fully committed to delivering this facility for the local community.

"Trenport will also be providing additional funding to this facility through the S106 contributions for the proposed development at Eccles."

A spokesperson for Tonbridge and Malling council said: "We are very keen to hear from residents on the amendments to what is a very significant development application.

"While there is no specified legal requirement for the duration of re-consultations of this sort, we felt that two weeks would be sufficient for most people.

"For anyone unable to meet this deadline, we will still be able to take on board comments relating to material planning considerations after this time, but would stress that the sooner they are received the better able we will be to analyse them properly."