Improvement needed in plan for flats

A plan to redevelop a site in Tovil for housing may not go ahead, as councillors begin to flex their muscles after Maidstone’s final completion of a Local Plan.

The scheme is for 18 flats in a three-storey block on the site of JB Garage Doors off Straw Mill Hill in Tovil.

At Thursday’s planning meeting, several councillors pointed out they were under no obligation to approve it, as it was not an allocated site in the Local Plan.

Cllr Brian Clarke (Lib Dem) asked “Do we have a need for this? Is the development really of such a high standard we should shoe-horn it into this site?”

Many councillors decried the drawings only showing 18 parking spaces for 18 homes, with no chance of on-road parking.

The committee agreed to defer a decision for two weeks to give the applicant the chance to come up with an improved plan.