GO AD-FREE. Get 2 Months Digital Subscription for ONLY £1! Use code 2FOR1
GET STARTEDMore on KentOnline
GO AD-FREE. Get 2 Months Digital Subscription for ONLY £1! Use code 2FOR1
GET STARTEDMore on KentOnline
A new 214-home development has been rubber-stamped despite villagers' concerns it will change where they live "beyond recognition".
The new houses will be on the west side of Tothill Street in Minster and the scheme includes an extension of Minster Cemetery.
The scheme has now been formally approved, after members of the planning committee agreed to let officers grant permission once legal documents were signed.
Some 42 letters of objection were submitted relating to the impact on the village, with dozens relating to the loss of Grade 1 agricultural land, the increase in traffic on already-congested roads and impact on neighbouring properties.
Cllr Reece Pugh, who represents Thanet's villages, said the scheme, particularly the traffic issues, filled him with dread at a meeting earlier this year.
He raised concerns about the lack of primary school provision and what he believed to be an insufficient consultation by the applicant and landowner The College of St John The Evangelist and Spantons Farm.
"I'm almost certain that it will completely transform Minster village beyond recognition," he added.
The development will lead to the need for an additional 60 primary school places, which are to be met through the delivery of Phase 1 of the new Manston Green Primary School, on which work is yet to start.
Some 43 secondary places will also be needed.
The planning team at Thanet council insisted the 214 houses could be provided without a significant impact upon the area and neighbouring living conditions.
They said the effect on road safety "has been mitigated through off-site highway improvement works" and cash towards improvements at Spitfire Junction.
Meanwhile, the presence of "exclusion zones" within the application site boundary will lessen the impact on archaeology.
"Some 30% on site affordable housing is proposed, and the applicant has agreed to all of the other financial contributions," they added.
Despite the numerous concerns over the development, which will be on land allocated in the Local Plan, members of the planning committee agreed to defer and delegate for approval.
This meant council officers could grant permission once all the legal documents are signed, which has now been done.
