Councillors English and Thick stated that they had been lobbied.

The Committee considered the report and the urgent update report of the Head of Planning.

Councillor Ireland of East Sutton Parish Council (against), Councillor Armstrong of Sutton Valence Parish Council (against) and Mr Tamsett, for the applicant, addressed the meeting.

RESOLVED:  That subject to the expiry of the site notice and advertisement publicising the application as a Departure from the Development Plan and the receipt of no representations raising new issues material to the decision, the Head of Planning be given delegated powers to grant permission subject to the conditions and informative set out in the report, as amended by the urgent update report, and the additional informative set out in the urgent update report, with the amendment of condition 2 and an additional condition as follows:-

Condition 2 (amended)  

All accommodation units permitted at the site shall be occupied for holiday purposes only.  No such accommodation shall be occupied as a person's sole or main place of residence.  The operators of the caravan park shall maintain an up-to-date register of the names of all owners/occupiers of individual accommodation units on the site, and of their main home addresses, and shall make this information available at all reasonable times to the Local Planning Authority.

Reason:  In order to ensure proper control of the use of the holiday units and to prevent the establishment of permanent residency, which would be contrary to National and Local Plan Policy discouraging the proliferation of new dwellings in the countryside and in accordance with policy ENV28 of the Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000 and the NPPF 2012.

Additional Condition

There shall be no external amplified sound on the site between the hours of 2200 hours and 0700 hours.

Reason:  In the interests of protecting the amenities of nearby residential property, in accordance with policy ENV28 of the Maidstone Borough-Wide Local Plan 2000 and the NPPF 2012.

Voting:  13 – For  0 – Against  0 – Abstentions