Heathlands Garden Settlement SPD

Heathlands Garden Settlement SPD

Heathlands Garden Settlement will be located in the East of the borough and between the villages of Lenham and Charing. This garden settlement looks to deliver 5,000 new homes and 5,000 new jobs, along with associated facilities and infrastructure by 2054 in accordance with the garden settlement principles.

Key Features

• 5,000 new homes to be built
• 40% affordable homes
• 5,000 new jobs
• 14 hectares of dedicated new employment land
• One new district centre & two new local centres
• New primary school provision totalling 7 forms of entry (FE)
• New 6 FE secondary school
• New country park
• A new railway station
• 20% biodiversity net gain
• New health care and community facilities
• Due regard given to both on and around the site a range of designated and non-designated heritage assets.

Heathlands Garden Settlement Drop In Sessions

Two informal drop in engagement events were held on Saturday 10 May between 2pm and 8pm at Lenham Community Centre, 12 Groom Way, Lenham, Maidstone ME17 2QT and Tuesday 13 May between 2pm and 6pm at Dog and Bear Hotel, The Square, Lenham, Maidstone ME17 2PG attended by around 200 people. Residents and businesses were invited to these drop-in sessions for the Heathlands Garden Settlement to share their ideas to help shape the preparation of a Draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), which the Local Planning Authority of Maidstone Borough Council is currently preparing. It is anticipated that the Draft SPD will be formally consulted upon later this summer/autumn.

The SPD will:

• Take forward the vision, objectives and policy requirements set out in the Maidstone Local Plan Review, adopted in March 2024.
• Contain a series of illustrative plans showing how and where development could come forward on the site.
• Provide additional guidance and key principles across several important aspects, such as housing, transport and open space.
• Set out the infrastructure that will be needed and what additional work should be done as part of preparing future planning applications for Heathlands.

The SPD is not intended to set a fixed or rigid design for the site, but provides additional guidance to inform the preparation of any future planning applications.

For anyone who was unable to attend the drop-in sessions, the boards that were presented at these events are available here.

Between Saturday 10 May and Sunday 25 May, you can also share your feedback via our digital survey. Comments and feedback received will be used to inform the emerging Supplementary Planning Document.

Please keep an eye on our consultation page where any live consultations will be posted.

Published date: 07 February at 12:34 pm