The proposals have received significant opposition from residents
Planning inspectors will have the final say over a controversial application for hundreds of homes despite its refusal.
Richborough Estates Ltd submitted plans for a 800-home development – 240 of which would be affordable housing – and which also includes a primary school, community centre and retirement home covering 50 hectares off Lower Rochester Road.
However, the proposals have received significant opposition from residents, seeing 176 letters of objection, and planning officers agreed, recommending it be refused, calling the scheme “unsustainable”.
At Medway Council’s planning committee last night (December 17), members voted to turn down the application, but the applicant has already submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate – the government agency tasked with examining and deciding appeals.
Richborough did so on the grounds of non-determination, due to the fact a decision had not been made within the set timeline for planning applications of eight to 13 weeks.
Chief planning officer, Dave Harris, explained the delay was due to a holding objection from National Highways – meaning they had requested more time to evaluate the proposals.
He also said the applicants had submitted more information following the original application which needed consideration.
Mr Harris said: “So why have the applicants chosen to appeal? The reason for that is, unsurprisingly, the applicants are aware the council has a draft local plan which we are about to submit to the Planning Inspectorate which will be heard in examination next year.
“The applicants are anticipating members are likely to agree with the officer’s recommendation of refusal and what they would like is to get an appeal in early and get an inquiry in advance of the local plan examination.”
The draft Local Plan, which Medway Council has now submitted to the government for examination, does not allocate the land where the application is for housing use.
This means after the Local Plan is enacted, it is highly unlikely a proposal for this site would be approved; however at the moment the plan is not in effect and there is an assumption in favour of sustainable development.
Ward councillors Elizabeth Turpin and John Williams, of the Independent Group, spoke against the application on the specific grounds of the impact on health, education, and the quality of life for locals.
Cllr Turpin said: “This site will bring additional pressure on existing healthcare provisions, Medway hospital being one major concern but also within the primary care setting.
“The Highparks Medical Practice has recently announced the closure of one of their four surgeries and it’s therefore difficult to comprehend how the new residents will access their GP and other care services.
“But also the quality of care will significantly deteriorate for existing residents who are already reporting how difficult it is to actually access healthcare.”
She added the development would only fund a one-form primary school, which would be financially unviable, but not a two-form primary school which would create too many places and increase traffic from students from outside the area.
Cllr Williams said: “I’ve not heard of one local resident who is supportive of this scheme and many have told me if this development goes ahead it would be catastrophic for their quality of life.”
The planning committee voted overwhelmingly to refuse the scheme, agreeing with the issues raised by officers in their report.
These included the adverse impact on the local areas character and appearance, mean a major loss of agricultural land, and would be an unsuitable location for a primary school, which is included in the plan.
In their report they said this was already enough justification to reject even before considering the impact on the road network, both in terms of congestion and safety.
Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) and others said the problems with the proposed development were obvious to those in the area.
He said: “I used the Google Street View to look around this area earlier today and the car which had taken the photos was having great difficulty due to a traffic jam.
“If you want a better illustration of the unsuitability of this area because of the pressures it is already facing in relation to congestion, I don’t think there is one.”
Cllr David Field (Lab) said: “We are in a situation where we’re submitting our Local Plan, which has had a great deal of work put into it, and this application would not fit within that.
“I am a person who is usually minded to support housing, particularly when we get 25% affordable housing, but given the fact it doesn’t align with our upcoming Local Plan and given the issues I agree with the recommendation to refuse.”
The application was refused with unanimous support from councillors, but planning officers will still have to make representations of their reasoning when it comes to the Planning Inspectorate for a final decision, as will Richborough Estates Ltd.
