A planning battle that has been raging for 13 years may finally be reaching a conclusion.

A public inquiry starts tomorow to determine the future of Monks Lakes, the popular angling centre in Staplehurst Road, Marden.

Back in 2011, the company that then owned the 35-hectare site, Monks Lakes Ltd, applied for retrospective planning permission for two existing fishing lakes and also sought permission to construct three new lakes, along with a clubhouse.

The initial two lakes, known as Bridges and Puma, are below ground while the new lakes have been created by raising a 6m-high bund around them.

Currently, the fifth lake is not fully constructed - and it is estimated that its completion will require the importation of a further 89,000m3 of waste material to build the raised bunds.

It took years for Maidstone council to agree permission, but then the decision was overturned by a judicial review in a challenge launched by neighbours to the site.

Subsequently, the council reconsidered the application and in March 2020, voted to refuse permission - against the advice of their officers.

The decision was appealed but dismissed by an inspector in November 2022.

However, proceedings in the High Court last year have returned it for redetermination and it is that appeal that will now be heard by a government inspector, Phillip Ware.

The council’s grounds for refusal were that there would be a detrimental effect on the setting of the Grade II listed Hertsfield Barn next to the site.

There would also be a loss of amenity to residents at Hertsfield Barn and at Hertsfield Farm cottages, because the elevated bunds formed to create the lakes resulted in anglers overlooking neighbouring properties.

The council will not contest those grounds at the latest appeal having accepted that the limited harm might be be outweighed by the benefit to employment and leisure facilities of having the angling centre.

However, David Padden, the owner of Hertfield Barn, and the Hertfield Residents Association are contesting the appeal.

They say the construction of the large earth bunds around the lakes has considerably altered views over the previously flat landscape and has created an overbearing impact on their properties.

They also say that the lakes, four of which have been built, have raised the height of the water table and blamed them for damp appearing in their properties and flooding in the land surrounding it.

The residents also challenge the legality of the appeal, since the original applicant, Monks Lakes Ltd, has gone into liquidation and the site is now owned by Taytime Ltd.

The site is currently the subject of an enforcement notice that requires it to be restored to its pre-2003 condition.

But the enforcement is on hold pending the outcome of the appeal hearing.

David Burton was the Maidstone council leader when the decision to refuse permission was taken.

He said: “The saga of Monks Lakes has always staggered me.

“How on earth can the tipping of thousands of tonnes of waste and the construction of above-ground lakes in close proximity to residential properties be made acceptable by a retrospective grant of planning permission?

“It’s about time that enforcement action is actually taken.

“This will be a test of the resolve for today’s Green-led council.”

In response to Mr Burton’s comments, Emily Harrison, a director at Taytime, said: “Throughout the construction period, the Environment Agency maintained active oversight, conducting regular testing.

“All material brought to site was strictly inert and subject to both on-site and off-site testing protocols.

“The application includes a comprehensive drainage scheme that will actually improve historical drainage issues in the area, which we have evidence of dating back to the 1960s.”

Ms Harrison also said that if the company were obliged to meet the requirement of the Enforcement Notice to restore the land to its pre-2003 state, it would cost more than £17m to implement.

Mr Burton stood down from the council at the last election.

The appeal begins at 10am on February 25 at the Innovation Centre in Gidds Pond Way, Weavering, Maidstone.

It is expected to last for three days.

Find out about planning applications that affect you at the Public Notice Portal.

Details can be found on the Maidstone council website, under application number 11/1948.