Home   Maidstone   News   Article

Maidstone council’s 5,000 homes ‘bottomless pit’ scheme could cost Kent taxpayers £8m

A huge housing scheme in the heart of the Kent countryside has cost taxpayers millions of pounds - and the bill is set to more than double.

The 5,000-home Heathlands development at Lenham, which survived a major planning review and a High Court challenge, may hit the public purse for £8million before a brick is laid.

John Britt from Lenham Parish Council
John Britt from Lenham Parish Council

The scheme is the brainchild of Maidstone council which has brought in Homes England to deliver the houses and share the overall bill.

Like all councils in the county, the local authority must meet government housing targets or face losing its planning powers.

An opponent of Heathlands said the collaborators treated the public finances as a “bottomless pit” although they insist the money is recoverable.

A significant proportion of the price tag has gone on King’s Counsel - some of the country’s top lawyers - and the cost of the changes made to the project as it has evolved.

But one supporter of Heathlands said it would prove to be value for money in the end.

The true cost of the council-led venture was revealed in papers for the council’s Housing and Community Cohesion Policy Advisory Committee on January 14.

They state: “At the point the collaboration agreement was signed, it was envisaged that the total cost of securing the allocation of the site and the OPP (outline planning permission) would be circa £3m (£1.5m each). To date this sum has been spent.

“Since the collaboration agreement was signed, the project has undergone significant changes and has accrued additional costs. The likely shared cost of securing the allocation and making the OPA (outline planning application) are now forecast to be £8m.”

The Green Party leader of Maidstone council, Cllr Stuart Jeffery, said the money was effectively a loan.

Leader of Maidstone Borough Council, Cllr Stuart Jeffery
Leader of Maidstone Borough Council, Cllr Stuart Jeffery

But Heathlands opponent and chairman of Lenham Parish Council John Britt said: “The council’s attitude to public money seems to be that it is a bottomless pit.

“I guess they are hoping there is no risk because they’ll get it back but what if it doesn’t happen? Will they get the money back?”

Cllr Jeffery, who has always opposed the Heathlands scheme but became leader some years into the scheme’s progress, said: “It’s galling but we have to make the best of a bad world.

“The only person who can unpick this scheme is the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and she wants even more houses.”

Conservative borough councillor Lottie Parfitt, who also sits on Kent County Council, said: “The Heathlands scheme is in the Local Plan now and we’ve got to get on with it.

“We’re getting the money back but it does seem that the cost of these schemes always seem greater than originally budgeted for.”

Cllr Lottie Parfitt-Reid says they need to get on with the scheme
Cllr Lottie Parfitt-Reid says they need to get on with the scheme

Cllr Britt said the proposed shake-up of English councils, which will almost certainly see the end of MBC and every other existing authority in Kent, would leave the expected new, larger unitary bodies with a “ticking time bomb”.

Maidstone council said a wide range of factors had seen costs rise, not least the challenge by opponents through the Local Plan Review (LPR) which “took much longer than envisaged, and was far more complex…as well as legal costs to secure the desired outcome”.

New legislation resulted in extra evidence on nutrients and minerals and the new railway station required work.

The papers note: “Challenges to the LPR and a focus of some of these on Heathlands in particular, both during and after examination, resulted in the accrual of significant additional legal costs.

“Specifically, the cost of legal representation by way of barrister attendance and support through the examination process.”

Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More