Proposals to build six homes behind an Indian restaurant have been turned down - but now the owner has put forward his own scheme.

Bridgemore Land and Development was behind the plans for the rear of the Taj of Kent in Church Green, Marden, including part of the car park and an area of scrubland.

The site already has permission for four new homes, but the developer wanted to increase that number.

However, Maidstone council planners said the expanded scheme was unacceptable.

They said four of the homes would be too close to an abattoir, and that the new residents’ quality of life would be affected by noise from the business.

The homes proposed were also taller - two-storey instead of the previous one-and-a-half storey units - and it was felt that that, plus the increased number of homes, would impinge on the Conservation Area and nearby listed buildings.

The scheme was also said to contravene the Marden Neighbourhood Plan.

Together, the plans would have resulted in the loss of seven of the restaurant’s 13 parking places, but no account was taken of that because the highways authority, Kent County Council, had raised no objections.

The decision does not stop Bridgemore Land and Development from building the four homes for which there is already planning permission.

Meanwhile, there is a new application submitted for the Taj of Kent itself, from the restaurant’s owner and director, Manik Miah.

He is seeking a change of use for the first floor of the building from commercial to residential to allow the creation of three one-bedroom flats.

No external alterations to the building are proposed.

Two of the flats would be only marginally above the nationally described minimum space standards, which state that one-bed flats should have a floorspace of at least 37sq m.

In the case of two of the proposed apartments, the floor space would be 37.1 and 37.2 sq m.

The plans show all three flats to comprise a combined living/dining/kitchen area, a shower room, and a single bedroom.

They would be accessed via an existing external staircase to the first floor.

The application suggests the residents would be able to share the restaurant’s remaining six car parking spaces with staff and customers.

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

The restaurant itself will continue in business on the ground floor.

To learn about the Bridgemore Land application, visit the Maidstone council website and search for application number 25/500993.

To learn about the Taj of Kent application, search for application number 25/501984.