Maidstone says nine of the 11 policies in Chart Sutton's plan pass the test, but its tree and community rules are too restrictive. Comments close 21 September.

Maidstone Borough Council has told Chart Sutton Parish Council that two of the 11 policies in its draft neighbourhood plan do not meet the legal tests. It wants both changed before an independent examiner sees them.

The council’s formal response was approved on Thursday 3 September by the Cabinet Member for Planning Policy and Management, under decision reference 1744. It comes into force on 11 September if it is not called in.

Residents still have time to have their own say. The public consultation on the plan runs to Monday 21 September 2026, and the council warns that representations received after the closing date will not be considered.

What the plan proposes

The Chart Sutton Neighbourhood Development Plan covers 2025 to 2038. It sets out a vision, six objectives and 11 land use policies. According to the council’s report to the Cabinet member, the policies include:

  • an allocation of 35 dwellings on land south of Amber Lane, the parish’s share of growth under Local Plan policy LPRSP8
  • designation of two new Local Green Spaces: the village green and Chart Sutton Memorial Playing Field
  • protection for nine non-designated heritage assets, among them the Old School, the airman’s grave, a Roman road and iron age earthworks along Warmlake Road
  • 15 locally significant views that would shape the design of new development
  • a dark skies policy controlling lighting across the parish
  • a horticulture policy covering glasshouses, polytunnels and packhouses

Once a neighbourhood plan is adopted it becomes part of the development plan, which means it carries weight when planning applications are decided.

The two policies the council says fail

Officers judged nine of the 11 policies to meet the basic conditions. Two did not, according to the council’s response letter, signed by Karen Britton, Head of Planning and Economic Development.

Policy CS5, landscape and biodiversity. The parish wants biodiversity net gain units that cannot be delivered on a site to be used within Chart Sutton itself. The council says that conflicts with national guidance, which does not allow a council to block development because gains cannot be provided locally. Officers also call the tree and woodland wording “overly restrictive”, and want it replaced with the Local Plan formula requiring an arboricultural assessment and a replacement planting scheme where trees are removed.

Policy CS11, important community facilities. The policy protects existing village assets, but it does not allow a facility to be redeveloped and re-provided somewhere else. The council says that conflicts with adopted Local Plan policy LPRINF2 and restricts housing development.

Officers also asked the parish to clarify which government guidance was used to draw the settlement boundary, and flagged that the council’s new Landscape Character Assessment should inform the plan. In it, the council records concern about “the growing impact of intensive fruit farming, including polytunnel developments on the scarp of the Greensand Ridge”.

On the Amber Lane allocation itself the council raised no objection. It did suggest the parish state when the site is expected to come forward. Local Plan policy LPRSP8 points to the last 10 years of the plan period, 2028 to 2038.

The basic conditions a neighbourhood plan has to meet changed this year. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 commencement regulations replaced the old requirement to conform with the strategic policies of the development plan.

The new test asks whether making the plan would result in less housing being provided across the borough than if the plan were not made. That reframing is why two of the council’s objections turn on restriction rather than on landscape or heritage.

A new National Planning Policy Framework was published on 17 August 2026, but plans that have reached Regulation 15 or beyond, as Chart Sutton has, continue to be assessed against the 2024 version.

What it means for you

If you live in Chart Sutton, or you care about the Amber Lane site, this is the last formal chance to comment before an examiner takes over. After 21 September the plan and every representation go to an independent examiner, then to a local referendum, then to the borough council to adopt.

To comment:

  • Deadline: Monday 21 September 2026
  • By email: neighbourhoodplanning@maidstone.gov.uk
  • By post: Strategic Planning, Maidstone Borough Council, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, ME15 6JQ
  • To read a hard copy: Chart Sutton Village Shop, The Shop on the Green, Chart Corner, ME17 3SB, open Monday to Friday 07:00 to 13:00, Saturday and bank holidays 08:00 to 12:00, Sunday 08:30 to 12:00. Maidstone House holds a copy by appointment only

You can ask to be notified of the council’s decision on whether to accept the examiner’s recommendations.

Chart Sutton was designated a neighbourhood area on 28 November 2024. Its first round of consultation ran from 21 April to 5 June 2026.

Planning decisions across the borough are listed on our Maidstone planning applications page.