New homes plan taken out of council's control

Plans for 1,000 homes on the edge of a town have been taken out of a council's hands because it took six years to make a decision, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Ashford Borough Council (ABC) said a bid for Court Lodge in Kingsnorth should be scrapped as developers have not given enough detail.

But in February, the developers, Hallam Land Management, lodged a "non-determination" appeal with the government's Planning Inspectorate, essentially asking it to decide because ABC had not reached a decision.

The company had first submitted plans for homes off Pound Lane in 2018 but pollution issues with the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve near Canterbury delayed the project.

Rules set out by Natural England states developers must ensure all schemes in the River Stour catchment area are "nutrient neutral" to protect the internationally important nature reserve.

Developers either do this by having an on-site water treatment facility or offsetting the impact by providing mitigation measures elsewhere, such as wetlands.

Hallam submitted nutrient-neutrality plans twice after Natural England asked for more details.

However, ABC had still to decide on the scheme, and requested further information.

Although the project will no longer be decided locally, ABC's planning committee still met on Wednesday to vote on what it would have done with the application if it still had the power.

The development is intended to link up with the 5,750-home Chilmington Green estate and 550-home Kingsnorth Green.

The three developments between them are intended to form the 7,250-home South of Ashford "Garden Community" under the council's Local Plan to 2030.

The committee voted unanimously to say it would have refused planning permission if it had the power.

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