Plans for five homes on a plot in Warden Bay were turned down by Swale council’s planning committee.

An application for two semi-detached, two-bedroom houses and three, three-bedroom terraced homes on a plot in Imperial Drive, was initially discussed at a meeting on September 3.

It was decided a site meeting was needed and this was carried out on September 21.

The proposal then went before planning committee members again on Thursday where it was recommended for approval for officers.

However, Sheppey East ward member Cllr Lesley Ingham (Con) said: “I can’t accept the officer’s recommendation on this one.

“It is over-intensification of the site.”

She added it would be overlooking a planned development next door which has already been approved and will have a glass atrium.

Fellow ward representative, Cllr Padmini Nissanga (Ukip), said it would have a negative impact on the highway and the area would become overcrowded.

And Borden councillor Mike Baldock (Ukip) said: “I cannot see how you could reasonably get five houses on that plot.

“It is dreadful round there. There’s a lot of parking on the roads.

“It is not a good place to be increasing housing at this intensity.

“It is just not a sensible location for this kind of overdependent.

“It’s not in keeping with the other houses in the area.

“Three houses on that plot, yes, it was a good use of the land, this is just trying to cram on as much as possible in a part of the borough that is hard to reach, is poorly served by public transport and which is lacking in amenities.”

Members voted to refuse the application and after some deliberation they decided to do so on the grounds of its visual impact on the street scene, an over-intensive use of the site and impact on privacy of the proposed homes next door.