Pond Farm update from Parish Council meeting 29 August

At its meeting on Tuesday 29 August, Councillors considered the decision by the Planning Inspector on the Land South of London Road (Pond Farm).

There had been lots of objections to the proposal when it was lodged in January 2022. The Parish Council supported the objections and paid for expert reports from Railton on traffic management and the University of Kent on air quality. The application was refused by Swale Borough Council, the Local Planning Authority, and an appeal was lodged and dealt with by the Planning Inspectorate.

The Parish Council has worked extremely hard to fight against this application, as it has with other developments in the village, with Councillors, especially Cllr Stephen Harvey, spending an extraordinary number of hours scrutinising documents and writing comprehensive responses to the proposal. Your local Councillors, Cllr Stephen Harvey, Cllr Richard Palmer and Cllr Chris Palmer, have been commended by residents for the representations they made at the Inquiry Hearing.

Having worked so hard, Councillors are deeply disappointed with the decision of the Planning Inspector and share residents’ frustration and dismay at the result.

It has been suggested that the Parish Council takes this matter to Judicial Review and the Council is actively considering all options, including a Judicial Review, and will be guided by experts. There are three main grounds for a Judicial Review: illegality, procedural impropriety, and irrationality; illegality meaning the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body; procedural impropriety on the ground of procedural unfairness if the process leading up to the decision was improper; or irrationality if it is so unreasonable that no reasonable person, acting reasonably, could have made it. A Judicial Review is not automatic and has to be applied for within six weeks of the decision notice. If permitted there would be court costs and legal costs, there would also be costs of the other party if the Judicial Review is not upheld.

If permission is granted for Judicial Review, and then if successful, this would mean that the planning inspector's decision would be quashed. There would then have to be a further Planning Inquiry to determine whether planning permission for the development should be granted or denied.

The Planning Inspectorate decision can be overturned by the Secretary of State Michael Gove. The Parish Council is urging all residents to write to Michale Gove, or to ask Gordon Henderson MP to write to Michael Gove, to request that the decision be overturned. Your support in this is vital.

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