The Planning Inspector’s decision to find the draft Maidstone Local Plan ‘sound’ and Maidstone Borough Council’s adoption of the Local Plan on 20 March means that MBC and Homes England now have the green light to develop the Heathlands scheme further.

We have now reached a critical stage in our fight against this ill-conceived scheme.

We’ve been working with a distinguished environmental law firm that has written on our behalf to MBC and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities formally notifying them of our intent to legally challenge the plan’s adoption on the following three grounds:

1. The Inspector’s misinterpretation of the deliverability of the Local Plan
2. The Inspector’s conclusion in his report about finding a suitable site for a secondary school in the Maidstone urban area for the proposed Invicta Barracks development; and
3. The Inspector’s conclusion on the timing of delivery for the above secondary school in Maidstone.

To hold the Council to account in this way will be expensive, but a small price to pay when compared with the loss of our local amenities, and the damage to the value of our home and way of life.

We estimate that to fund a credible legal challenge we need to raise a minimum of £50,000. This is an expensive process, but worth every penny if it succeeds.

Your support is more critical than ever and will empower us to represent our case effectively and hopefully halt this disastrous Local Plan.