Club’s dream for new home shattered as £125m Highland Court bid rejected

The developer behind plans to deliver new homes for Canterbury’s football and rugby clubs says the fight is not over, despite councillors resoundingly rejecting the proposals.

Along with the multi-million pound sports complex vision, Mark Quinn had hoped to secure permission to build 175 Cotswolds-style holiday homes on protected countryside at Highland Court Farm, near Bridge.

But the city council’s planning committee threw out the plans on Tuesday, citing concerns that “destroying” an area of outstanding natural beauty outweighed the benefits for the sports clubs.

The decision, which has sparked an angry response from club chairman Tim Clark, leaves Canterbury City FC in deep water as it struggles to stay afloat without a stadium it can call home.

Yet, hopes to bring the project to fruition remain alive.

Mr Quinn, who believes the holiday home plan was the key stumbling block behind the refusal, says: “We’ll go back to the drawing board, look at the committee’s decision and revise the scheme.

“We’ll probably drop the holiday homes and make it more commercially-led. It can be completely different.

“I’m confident we can work together with the sport clubs and come back with something. This was round one. We get told ‘no’ all the time but can come back.

“The decision sadly strikes a blow for sustainable, community-driven development.

“Our vision was not borne out of any zeal to destroy what is a beautiful part of east Kent, but to create something special that would have delivered real benefits for the people of Canterbury.”

Six new pitches for Canterbury Rugby Club, which itself faces an uncertain future with the lease running out at its current home, would have been created.

It would have allowed for the club to move away from its current site, meaning the land off Nackington Road could be freed up for housing delivered by Quinn Estates - in exchange for building the shell of a new ‘super hospital’ for Canterbury.

With Highland Court being refused, the hospital plans could face a setback.

But Mr Quinn says not. “A solution will be found,” he said. “The Clinical Commissioning Groups are still going to take ages to confirm what option they want.”

The plans at Bridge envisaged building artisan food and drink outlets, an extension to Canterbury Business Park and an ‘innovation centre’ for start-up businesses.

Speaking at the meeting as a member of the public, city council leader Simon Cook labelled the project unsustainable and highlighted the potential for transport problems.

Prospective Lib Dem candidate Mike Sole said the scheme would be “replacing exceptional countryside with concrete and congestion”, while Natural England warned it would go to the Court of Appeal if councillors voted in favour.

While Cllr Ashley Clark (Con) felt “genuinely sorry” for the sports clubs and admitted the section of protected countryside was not “outstandingly beautiful”, he could not accept the holiday home proposal.

He said: “Our Local Plan goes in the bin if we allow this. It would drive a coach and horses through it and would create a dangerous precedent.”

Aside from one abstention from Cllr Robert Thomas (Con), all other members voted against the plans.