If a housing plan could be kicked out more emphatically, it is hard to envisage how - but campaigners fear developers’ eyes are still trained on beloved countryside and flashing with pound signs.

Taylor Wimpey’s plan to build 475 homes on greenfield land west of Hoo prompted more than 1,000 letters of objection and was roundly opposed by residents, councillors and planning officers alike.

Even before Wednesday night’s planning committee meeting, the odds looked stacked against the scheme – with planning officers labelling it “unsustainable” and liable to “cause significant harm to the landscape” in a report that advised members to refuse permission.

Others waded in at the meeting with objection couched in less official language.

“If there was a competition for disregard to local communities, this application would win the top prize,” said Peninsula ward Cllr Tony Watson, who added: “The applicant is seeking to destroy a vital rural buffer between Hoo and Chattenden.”

“This application is just the tip of the iceberg. If we don’t get Lodge Hill, this is going to happen time and time again.” - Cllr Adrian Gulvin

Committee member Cllr Adrian Gulvin opposed the development, but also used it to make a point about why building 5,000 homes at Lodge Hill – a plan called in by the Planning Inspectorate following much opposition – was a good idea.

“This application is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “If we don’t get Lodge Hill, this is going to happen time and time again.”

Cllr Stephen Hubbard slammed the developers as “outsiders” and “chancers” who had not even been able to pronounce the name “Hoo” properly when they first consulted him on the scheme.

The scheme was refused planning permission after a unanimous vote.

Ron Sands, of the Hands off Hoo campaign group, welcomed the decision but feared the battle was far from over.

And he disagreed with the notion that development plans at Lodge Hill were connected to those at Hoo.

“They keep insisting this was the fault of the Lodge Hill development but it wasn’t at all,” he said. “This land was owned by Taylor Wimpey long before the Lodge Hill decision was made.

“Medway Council are pinpointing the Hoo Peninsula as the only place they want to build.

“We’re a rural community - the peninsula is a fusion of agricultural land, industrial sites and hamlets. To destroy that is outrageous. Every village there has got its own identity.”

He added: “I don’t think they (the developers) have any grounds to, as it was quite unanimous, but I think they will come back.

“Hands off Hoo will be watching and ready for the fight.”