Fury as Angela Rayner takes control of Kent ‘garden town’ plan

Angela Rayner has been accused of undermining local democracy after taking control of plans for a new "garden town" development in Kent.

The Housing Secretary last week blocked Swale Borough Council from deciding on controversial plans to build 8,400 homes near Sittingbourne.

Planning officers were meant to vote on proposals last Thursday but received a letter three hours before the town meeting notifying them that Ms Rayner had instead taken control of the process.

Developers, councillors and the local community must now make their case to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), led by Ms Rayner, which will have the final say on the plans.

Swale planning officers had recommended that members vote against the plans, which were submitted by property developer Quinn Estates.

Ms Rayner's intervention has raised fears that she will overrule local opposition and approve the project. Labour has vowed to build new garden towns and villages across the country to meet its promise of 1.5m new homes over the next five years.

The Government has not outlined its reasons for intervening in the Swale planning application.

Julien Speed, a Conservative councillor for Swale, said he was "absolutely furious" and that all of his fellow councillors were "totally gobsmacked" by Labour's intervention.

He said: "We are a democratically elected local authority and one of our functions is to determine where housing and infrastructure goes.

"The Government has completely pulled the rug from under our feet and taken that decision away from us. I just think it's totally unacceptable."

Terry Thompson, Green Party councillor for Swale, said Labour's intervention "totally undermined [constituents'] confidence in the Government".

Mr Thompson claimed everyone he had spoken to was "absolutely disgusted" and "pretty livid" about the move.

Carol Goatham, of the local campaign group Farm Fields & Fresh Air, raised concerns that Ms Rayner had set a precedent for the Government to take key planning decisions out of the hands of local communities.

Ms Goatham added: "If she calls this one in, will she then decide to call the next one in and the next one in? Are we going to see any local democracy? Is there going to be any decision made by Swale?"

The proposed housing development is split into two separate applications covering land across the south and east of Sittingbourne.

The first seeks to build up to 7,150 homes, plus primary and secondary schools, a hotel, rubbish tip and a community space.

The second includes proposals to build up to 1,250 homes including sheltered and extra care accommodation, a primary school and a motorway relief road designed to reduce congestion.

However, the proposals have sparked strong opposition among residents, with the council receiving more than 700 letters of objection.

Ms Goatham said she objected on the grounds that they would use up high-quality agricultural land needed for food production.

She said: "We shouldn't be building on our best and versatile farmland. We should be protecting it for our future generations."

Alastair Gould, Green party councillor for Swale, claimed that Quinn Estate's plans to build a new M2 motorway junction through the countryside would "lock in car dependency".

Monique Bonney, an independent Swale councillor, also alleged that the housing project would not meet the Government's targets for affordable housing and would put pressure on the "creaking" hospitals and schools in Kent.

"Some will say 'oh well, it's Nimbyism '. But what it will have is a profound impact on the services locally in Sittingbourne, Faversham and the area," she said.

The Housing Secretary is expected to announce her decision on the bid by February.

Ms Bonney said the Swale community was preparing to "fight this all the way".

She said the council was preparing to hire legal representatives for the inquiry and to explore grounds for a potential judicial review.

A spokesman for Quinn Estates has previously said: "The proposals are entirely suitable for the site in terms of land use, amount of development, access, layout and appearance."

The Canterbury-based developer added that more than 70 businesses had written a joint letter in support of the plans.

A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: "As the case will now come before ministers, it would not be appropriate to comment further."