At a meeting last week of Swale Council's planning committee, the chairman of Lynsted with Kingsdown Parish Council presented reasons to object to the Highsted Park application to build, in total, 8400 new houses - including 1250 on land in Teynham. 

If it seems brief, the speech was limited under Council rules to three minutes.   READ THE SPEECH HERE

The committee voted UNANIMOUSLY to support the officer’s recommendation to refuse both applications. 

However, just three hours before the planning committee meeting was due to start, Swale Council received an email from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.  This email informed the Council that, instead of being determined by the local planning authority, the two Highsted Park applications would be decided by the Secretary of State.  This meant that the Council was directed, by law, to make no decisions.  

An inspector from the Planning Inspectorate will now be appointed to carry out a public inquiry.  They will then prepare a report, including a recommendation to approve or refuse, for the Secretary of State - who is under no obligation to follow the inspector’s advice.