Trenport lodges appeal over Bushey Wood 950-home plan for Eccles

A developer has run out of patience with a district council over its failure to determine a controversial planning application.

Trenport submitted plans for a 950-home development to wrap around the village of Eccles and to be known as Bushey Wood back in January last year but Tonbridge and Malling council has still not determined the issue.

By law, local authorities are supposed to determine even large applications within 13 weeks, unless the applicant consents to a delay.

The company has now lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate which means the outcome will be determined by a government inspector rather than the council.

It also means there is a risk the inspector could award costs against the council if he or she considers the delay was unreasonable.

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However, in February this year, National Highways – a statutory consultee on all large applications – advised the authority it should not make a decision until at least May 15 because it said it had not received sufficient detail from Trenport about the application to make an informed recommendation.

National Highways said the application could have a significant impact on traffic on the M2 at Junction 3 for Blue Bell Hill and on the M20 at Junction 6 for Maidstone.

The application has been hotly contested by Eccles residents who say their tiny village will be swamped by the new homes.

More than 850 letters of objection have been filed. The village has only 752 residents.

The scheme covers a 63-hectare plot and would involve demolishing St Mark’s Primary School and building a new larger one.

In January 2022, Trenport submitted an outline planning application for the development of land at Eccles, also known as Bushey Wood.

The developer says the lands has been earmarked for housing since the 1990s.

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It said: “We are proposing a landscape-led masterplan, with a range of open spaces covering almost half of the site, as well as a new primary school, replacement sports pitches and changing facilities, and new strategic infrastructure, including a spine street through the middle of the site.

“Trenport consulted the local community on the proposals in 2021 and made a range of significant adjustments as a direct response to feedback from local residents.

“Since the submission of the planning application, Trenport has continued working hard to incorporate feedback received from stakeholders during the council’s own consultation process, including submitting an addendum to our original application, outlining how we incorporated this feedback.”

‘We felt progress was being made, so it’s disappointing that the developers felt it necessary to go down this road’

“We believe the need to deliver new homes and a range of wider public benefits is more pressing than ever, but we have become increasingly concerned that the timescale for a local planning decision is slipping.

“Therefore, Trenport has now lodged an appeal for non-determination of the application, meaning that a decision will now be made by a planning inspector within a reasonable timeframe.“

A spokesman for Tonbridge and Malling council said: “This is a large, complex application and we’ve been working hard with Trenport over a number of months to ensure it meets the high standards we set for developments of this type.

“In particular we’ve been focused on ensuring the application meets our policies in areas such as sustainability, highways and landscape impacts and affordable housing.

“We felt progress was being made, so it’s disappointing that the developers felt it necessary to go down this road.

“Trenport has now requested that the appeal be heard by way of a public inquiry and we will be responding to the Planning Inspectorate on whether we consider this the most appropriate way of progressing with the appeal.

“A report to the relevant council planning committee will now be prepared for members to assess the scheme and determine how they would have decided the application had the appeal not been submitted.

“We will then be in a position to defend the council’s position on the grounds agreed by local members.”

Steve Beadle is an Eccles parish councillor and a campaigner against the application. He said: “On the face of it, this looks like bad news for the community as it is taking the decision away from the local authority.

“On the other hand, Tonbridge and Malling have not been very helpful to us or tried to understand our position. Perhaps a government inspector will be more understanding.

“But there is such a long wait to get a planning inspector at the moment, I’d be surprised if Trenport get a decision any quicker.”

Details of the Trenport application can be viewed here.

Application number 22/00113 refers.