Some residents living on a proposed new housing estate won’t be able to open their windows if the scheme goes ahead.

It is because noise levels from the neighbouring railway line and industrial site in Staplehurst will be too high.

The noise problem is one of a number of disappointments affecting the site off Lodge Road, that has been allocated in Maidstone council’s Local Plan for a mixture of both housing and commercial units.

Some of the proposed 81 new homes will have to be fitted with a form of ventilation and residents won’t be able to open their windows.

Another measure to reduce noise would see a 1.8m brick/stone wall being built in some gardens.

The developers, Civils Contracting Ltd, say that the need to provide the commercial units, for which, they say, there is no demand, in order to comply with the plan’s requirements, is one of the factors that is making the site unprofitable.

That, together with higher-than-normal infrastructure costs because of a need to provide a pumping station for the surface water drainage and a new sub-station for the power supply, plus a need to reinforce the road substructure, will mean that no affordable housing can be supplied.

In addition, the site would not be able to make the standard contributions - or indeed any contributions - towards education, libraries and SEND provision that is usually required by Kent County Council as part of planning permission for new builds.

Furthermore, the site allocation in the Local Plan requires that a road connection be made through to the Dickens Gate housing development to the west.

This also will not be possible because Civils Contracting Ltd has been unable to reach an agreement with the Dickens Gate developers, David Barrett Wilson. So all vehicular movements will be via Lodge Road.

On the plus side, the developers propose to keep around a hectare of the 4.5-hectare site as green open space, with the creation of two community green areas and play parks.

In addition, the homes will be built to a high sustainability standard, with no gas on the site and heating provided by air source heat pumps.

An existing pond will be retained and a new pond created. However, there is a population of great crested newts, a protected species, across the site currently.

The firm intends to mitigate against the loss of their habitat by making financial contributions to Natural England towards the creation of new newt ponds elsewhere.

Overall, the applicants say, there will be a biodiversity net gain of 26%.

A detailed application for the housing element and an outline application for the commercial element will go before Maidstone council’s planning committee next Thursday, where officers are recommending approval.

An indicative-only plan for the commercial units shows a 1,000 sqm building divided into four units, and provided with 20 parking spaces.

The council has engaged its own consultants to test the viability figures submitted by the applicant, and they have confirmed that the site is only “viable” if there is no affordable housing and no KCC contributions.

However, “viable” in planning consultants’ terms does not necessarily mean that the development would make a cash loss.

Rather, it means that the developers would not achieve the expected industry standard 17% profit return ratio on their investment.

Planning officers say that, given the viability issues with the site, the scheme could be allowed without any affordable housing.

But, if for whatever reason the commercial element never materialised, officers are seeking a legal commitment from the developer that, at that point, a financial contribution would be made towards affordable housing provision elsewhere.

Staplehurst Parish Council has asked that the application be refused for a host of reasons.

Councillors say the scheme provides no one-bed starter homes; Lodge Road will become a bottleneck; the link road to the Dickens Way estate was crucial otherwise there will be undue pressure on the Marden Road/A229 crossroads; Lodge Road and Station Road are already congested; the community infrastructure in Staplehurst was already under pressure; the site floods frequently; and housing affordability was a major issue in Staplehurst which the application failed to address.

Kent County Council’s (KCC) highways team, however, considers that, although there would be longer queues at peak times at the Station Road/A229 junction, the overall effect on traffic was acceptable.

However, KCC said it would object if it did not obtain over £1 million in financial contributions: made up of £476,321 for primary education, £468,975 for secondary, £49,265 for SEND provision, £3,010 for community learning, £6,516 for children’s services, £5,511 for libraries, £15,917 for social care and £4,576 towards waste collections.

Maidstone council suggested these monies could be met from the community infrastructure levy (CIL) that the developer would be obliged to pay.

This application was originally submitted in June 2023 in a slightly different form by a different developer.

However, Ilke Homes Land Ltd went into administration in late 2023 and the application was taken over by the joint applicant and landowner, Civils Contracting Limited.

The site is at the west end of the Lodge Road industrial estate to the north of Staplehurst. It is bounded on the north by the railway line.

Network Rail has also objected to the application, fearful that it will generate more foot traffic across the adjacent unmanned crossing.

The applicants say they can prevent this by building a wall between the estate and the public footpath.

There have also been 32 individual letters of objection.

The applicants said: “The plan provides a sustainable addition to Staplehurst, with a 26% Biodiversity Gain, and is designed to create a safe, inclusive and interactive environment.

“It sets out a framework for a legible development with two unique character areas having varying scale, massing, and detailed design within an overall design framework, establishing a strong sense of place.

“The site layout proposes an appropriate landscaped and softened boundary to the sensitive edges, with open space and a strong landscape buffer utilised.

“The variety of open space proposed will facilitate community interaction and will provide high-quality recreational settings and landscape play areas for children.

“Spacious, legible pedestrian and cycle movement routes are provided around the site.

“The site layout limits scale and massing, negating any impact on nearby residents, while also providing tangible and significant community benefits.”

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

Details of this application can be found on the Maidstone council website here.

Look for application number 23/502352.