Village summit over homes

More than 200 villagers came together as an action group set up to fight controversial plans for a garden community met for the first time.

Campaigners braved the rain last Monday night to discuss concerns over Maidstone Borough Council’s proposals for 5,000 homes near Lenham Heath.

The scheme was discussed by the policy and resources committee last month, with the location kept confidential.

Council chiefs said including this information could compromise the authority’s financial position which outweighed public interest in disclosing the information.

Just 10 minutes after our sister paper the Kent Messenger published an article stating that location details were not revealed, a media statement confirming plans for land east of Lenham was released.

Documents from planning consultants, Barton Willmore, appear to suggest the scheme would be built on land in Lenham Heath and Lenham Forstal, stretching further into areas between Charing Heath and Leadingcross Green.

The council is acting as master-developer, which means it leads the design process, enables the required infrastructure, identifies suitable development partners and oversees the stewardship of the new community.

Leader Cllr Martin Cox said authorities were “working together for the long-term benefit of the borough”.

However, opposition to the plans has proved strong already and campaign group, Save Our Heath Location (SOHL), met at Charing Heath and Lenham Heath Memorial Hall to discuss its next steps.

Kate Hammond, from the action group, said: “People have worked hard for their house and community in which they live.

“We do not understand Maidstone’s secrecy and why anyone associated are sworn to confidentiality.

“Why is Maidstone Borough Council keeping residents in the dark?”

Lenham Parish Council has also raised concerns, after revealing it was not made aware of the plans until they were published in the KM.

Chairman Richard Greenwood said: “This whole proposal threatens to undermine the significant amount of detailed work which has taken place to create our Neighbourhood Plan.”