62 Homes South of Marden Road Recommended for Approval, Despite Sitting Outside Staplehurst's Boundary

A scheme for 62 homes on farmland south of Marden Road in Staplehurst is recommended for approval when it goes before Maidstone Borough Council's Planning Committee on Thursday 15 October - despite sitting outside the village's settlement boundary and not being allocated for housing in the council's own Local Plan Review.

The application, from Fernham Homes Operations Limited, is for a residential development of 62 homes with a new access onto Marden Road, public open space, sustainable drainage and a swale along the northern boundary of the site specifically intended to help ease existing flood risk on Marden Road itself. The case officer's report recommends approval, subject to conditions and a Section 106 legal agreement.

The site adjoins Staplehurst but sits outside its settlement boundary and isn't allocated for housing in the Local Plan Review, which would normally count heavily against it. The reason it's recommended for approval regardless comes down to numbers: Maidstone's most recently published housing land supply, as of 1 April 2026, stands at just 3.6 years - well short of the five years councils are required to demonstrate. Local Plan policy LPRSP10 allows additional housing beyond what's formally allocated specifically to make up that kind of shortfall, and national planning policy (NPPF paragraph S5) says development like this "should be approved unless the benefits of doing so would be substantially outweighed by any adverse effects." Staplehurst's own Neighbourhood Plan doesn't rule out development outside the village boundary either.

The officer's report doesn't pretend the scheme is harm-free. It accepts the development will cause "significant harm to the rural character and appearance" of the area, though assesses that harm as localised, since the site is already contained by existing development to the north and east, woodland to the south and southwest, and vegetation to the west, with no medium or long-range visual impact. It also finds a low level of harm to the setting of the nearby Grade II listed building Coppwilliam, and notes the scheme doesn't fully comply with the council's accessible-homes policy, since not every property would meet the Part M4(2) adaptable-homes standard. None of these, in the officer's assessment, are enough to outweigh the benefit of the homes themselves given the borough's housing shortfall.

The application is due before Maidstone's Planning Committee at the Town Hall on Thursday 15 October at 6pm, where councillors will decide whether to follow the officer recommendation or not. The full committee report and supporting documents are available via Maidstone Borough Council's planning portal under reference 26/500660/FULL.