All Members except Councillor Chittenden stated that they had been lobbied.

The Committee considered the report and the urgent update report of the Head of Development Management.

The Head of Development Management informed the Committee that:-

·  Counsel had been asked for advice on the legal and financial implications of the decision to refuse this application and the likelihood of success at appeal.  Counsel’s opinion was that it was unlikely that the Council would be successful in defending the decision at appeal.

·  On the assumption of an appeal being made against the refusal of permission, followed by a costs application against the Council, and the Inspector making a costs award, it was very difficult at this stage to assess how much any costs award was likely to be.  However, in his view, costs were unlikely to be significant or exceed £30,000 particularly if the Council could evidence the harm which would be caused to the countryside by the proposed development.

The representative of the Head of Legal Services confirmed that Counsel had advised that, in the event of a costs application, the Council had about a 50% chance of resisting the claim.

Councillor B Mortimer addressed the meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the decision to refuse application MA/10/1542 for the reason set out below be confirmed:-

The proposed development would represent, because of the area in which it is located, incongruous development within open countryside, which is designated as part of the Greensand Ridge Special Landscape Area, causing unacceptable harm to its character and appearance.  To permit the development would be contrary to polices ENV28 and ENV34 of the Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000, policies CC1, CC6 and C4 of the South East Plan 2009 and the advice in PPS4, PPS7 and Circular 1/2006.

Voting:  13 – For  0 – Against  0 – Abstentions