Cash strapped Maidstone Borough Council is planning to hand over its Heathlands project to the Government’s housing quango Homes England in a bid to recoup some of the £1.5m it has committed to the scheme (of which £305,000 has already been spent).

This will be the subject of discussion at the P&R Committee meeting on Wednesday 16 December and you can read a copy of the report here

We are very concerned that Homes England has not been fully appraised of the full constraints of the proposal, including the lack of infrastructure, healthcare or education provision, the complicated landownership arrangements, or the fact that a large piece of land within the proposed scheme has been reserved for mineral extraction.

This again demonstrates MBC’s complete mismanagement of a project of this complexity. SOHL has written to members highlighting the pitfalls of entering into such an arrangement with Homes England.