More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A bid to gain permission for 150 homes looks set to be approved, despite dozens of objections.
Gladman Properties wants to build on two fields that are partly in a conservation area in East Malling.
Tonbridge and Malling council has received 135 letters of objection to the plan, for land southwest of Clare Lane, and no letters in support.
However, officers are still recommending approval because the borough cannot demonstrate that it has a five-year supply of housing.
Without that, the government insists there must be a presumption in favour of allowing development, unless there are very strong reasons not to, such as the plans detracting from an area’s history.
There are a number of listed buildings and non-listed heritage assets in the vicinity, but officers have assessed that the level of harm caused would be less than substantial.
They might even have approved the application under delegated powers, except that Cllrs Roger Roud (Lib Dem) and Michelle Tatton (Lib Dem) both called it in for discussion by the planning committee.
The meeting will be on Wednesday (December 4) at 6.30pm in the council chamber at Gibson Drive, Kings Hill and is open to the public.
Gladman is proposing that the only access will be from Clare Lane, which many residents say is totally unsuitable for additional traffic.
However, the developers insist they will put new signage and lighting in the road, a 30mph speed limit and create a footpath on the south side.
One resident from Darcy Court made comments typical of many.
He said: “The amount of extra traffic will not enhance the area that we live in as all the roads leading to the site are narrow country lanes which already have pinch points and bends.
“The first bend which comes into Clare Lane as you turn right out of Winterfield Lane is very narrow and increasingly dangerous, especially at night.
“As you drive down to the bend by Blacklands, there have been accidents where cars have left the road and the wall on the opposite side has been knocked down in the past.”
“At the bend opposite Stickens Lane, you have to creep round, as it‘s a blind bend.”
East Malling and Larkfield Parish Council, which has also objected, along with West Malling Parish Council, said that Gladman’s proposed mitigation measures on Clare Lane would have an unwelcome urbanising effect in the countryside.
But they said, if the scheme were to go ahead, the speed limit should be 20mph, not 30mph.
Gladman will be obliged to make a number of financial contributions, including paying £30,000 for new shutters to be fitted over the windows of East Malling Village Hall.
Because the application is only for development in principle at the moment, there are no details about what the houses would look like or how large they would be.
However, the developer is promising there would be 60 affordable properties, which meets the council’s policy of having 40% affordable homes.
It also promises a total of 2.17 hectares of green space would be left within the 6.8-hectare development site, including a children’s play area.
