Flats plan for Royal Mail sorting centre in Maidstone deferred over fears they would be ‘building slums’

A council has been sent to rework plans for its own development after councillors feared they would be “building a slum.”

Maidstone Borough Council submitted plans in October for the redevelopment of the former Royal Mail sorting office on Sandling Road into three blocks of flats.

Touting it as the “Maidstone East Regeneration”, the authority planned to turn the town centre site into blocks totalling 217 apartments.

In the council’s previous Local Plan from 2017 the site was slated for “retail-led” redevelopment, but planning documents say that “has not come forward due to reduced investor appetite or confidence in the site.”

However, in the authority’s new Local Plan, passed only last week, the area is instead set to host up to 500 homes as well as retail and business space.

The council’s planning committee met on March 21 to decide on the proposals, where planning chiefs were recommending councillors vote in favour.

But controversially, of the 217 homes not a single property was earmarked to be affordable in the plans.

A planning officer explained at the meeting they were hoping to apply for funding from Homes England to pay for some affordable housing.

Joshua Mellor of planning firm Stantec attended as an agent for the council’s application, arguing in favour of it.

He said the site is currently under utilisted and the plans would assist in meeting the need for new housing.

But the planning committee members weren’t as enthusiastic about the proposals.

Cllr Tony Harwood (Lib Dem) said: “This application gets to the very heart and soul of the vision we have for our town centre – and if this is the vision for our town centre then I give up.

He criticised the plans for not having any open green space for possible residents of the blocks, which would range from six to nine storeys.

Cllr Harwood went on to say he feared a “huge increase in population,” in the area as a result.

He said: “It’s 100% private so what’s going to happen with this sort of flats is they’ll be bought up en masse by another local authority like the other blocks of flats in this area have, and we will have all sorts of further social issues.”

He also slated the design, saying: “I could see this perhaps in parts of South East London and so on, I do not see it in central Maidstone.”

He added that as it wasn’t guaranteed to provide any affordable housing, “it clearly should be refused.”

Cllr Lewis McKenna (Con) added: “I cannot and simply will not support a development of 217 homes without a single affordable house

“We’re the applicant, what kind of message is that sending to our residents? Normal people want houses they can afford.”

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Cllr Clive English (Lib Dem) said that the concrete public areas in front of the blocks would become magnets for antisocial behaviour.

“We are building a slum which will be a constant weight to the council’s reputation, we should be doing better than this,” he said.

Cllr Patrik Garten (Con) backed the plans, however, saying that improving them was simply not doable for the council.

“I’m sure Cllr English would like to improve on this however to improve on a plan of this scale you need to have the right money for it,” he said.

“The council does not have the money in our back pocket.

However, councillors ended up voting to defer the plans and send them back to the drawing board, demanding a possible redesign, better open space, and to look into a possible legal agreement forcing MBC to apply for grant funding to make the scheme 100% affordable.