Issue - meetings

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

In introducing the application, the Principal Planning Officer wished to clarify that the application site was within the ‘Medical’ allocation part of Policy RMX1(1) of the Maidstone Local Plan 2017 and within the same allocation the Council was proposing to roll forward in the draft Local Plan Review.  The applicant had circulated information stating that the site was not within the ‘Kent Medical Campus’ or ‘KMC’.  ‘KMC’ was the name the promoters of that site had given to the wider area and where there was an outline planning permission.  The site was outside that planning permission but was within the ‘Medical’ allocation and the Local Plan 2017 allocation was paramount.

Mr McClellan, for the applicant, and Councillors Forecast, S Thompson, Hinder, Jones and Hastie (Visiting Members) addressed the meeting.

RESOLVED:

1.  That permission be refused for the reasons set out in the report, as amended by the urgent update report, with the further amendment of reason 2 to reference the fact that the development is cramped within the site with insufficient space for landscaping which would be required to mitigate the impact of the development and mitigate the impact on ecology.

2.  That delegated authority be given to the Head of Development Management to finalise the wording of amended reason 2 and to incorporate the relevant policies.

Voting:  11 – For  0 – Against  1 – Abstention

Note:  Councillor Parfitt-Reid left the meeting at the conclusion of this application (7.55 p.m.).