Miller Homes wants up to 230 homes on Green Belt farmland off Offham Road, West Malling. All 65 comments so far object, and comments close on 18 November.
Miller Homes has applied to build up to 230 homes on 13.95 hectares of Green Belt farmland on the western edge of West Malling. The site lies north of Offham Road. Every one of the 65 public comments on the application so far is an objection.
Neighbours have until Wednesday 18 November to comment. The application is 26/01667/OA on Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s planning portal. The council validated it on 19 October.
What Miller Homes wants to build
It is an outline application. Only the access would be fixed now; the layout, look and mix of homes would come later. The developer’s planning statement, written by its consultants Andrew Black Consulting, sets out:
- up to 230 homes, half of them affordable, so up to 115
- a single vehicle entrance from Offham Road, with pedestrian improvements along the road
- new parkland, children’s play areas, community orchards and a circular trim trail
- footpath links to the existing right of way, the town and the countryside
- drainage basins to soak rainwater into the ground
The site is farmed today. It is bounded by the recreation ground and a public footpath to the north, the back gardens of Ewell Road to the east, Offham Road to the south, and Fatherwell Road and a bridleway to the west.
The borough’s adopted policy asks for 40% affordable housing in rural areas. Miller offers 50% because it is applying under the national “grey belt” rules. Those rules allow some Green Belt land to be built on if it does not serve Green Belt purposes strongly, and they set a higher affordable housing bar. The split between social rent and other affordable homes would be fixed in a legal agreement later. The borough’s policy asks for 70% social rent unless circumstances dictate otherwise.
The council’s own assessments disagree with each other
Miller’s case rests on the council’s Green Belt Assessment, which marks the site, parcel WM-04, as “Provisional Grey Belt”.
But the planning statement also quotes the council’s Land Availability Assessment for the same land, site 68405. That assessment said the area “performs strongly against the NPPF purposes and makes an important contribution to the wider Green Belt”. It concluded the site was “unsuitable for development”.
The draft Local Plan allocates no new housing to West Malling. Miller argues that is wrong for a town of its size. It also points to the borough’s housing record:
- the council built 63% of the homes it needed over the last three years, under the government’s Housing Delivery Test published in August 2026
- a planning inspector put its five-year housing land supply at 4.36 years in the Birling Road, Ryarsh appeal in August 2025, short of the five years required
A shortfall like that makes refusing housing harder.
What the objectors say
The portal records 40 neighbours consulted, 65 comments received, 65 objections and none in support, as at 9 November.
We read the 62 objection letters published by 6 November. Of those:
- 47 raise traffic or congestion
- 44 raise the loss of farmland
- 41 raise the Green Belt
- 27 mention schools and 27 mention doctors or GP surgeries
A residents’ group, Friends of Offham Road, wrote to the council on 28 October. It said the application lacked a construction traffic management plan. It described Offham Road and nearby roads as having “narrow carriageways, restricted visibility and constrained sections”.
Opposition is not new. Miller’s own statement of community involvement records its consultation in November 2025. It delivered 380 leaflets and received 248 responses. Of those, 239 opposed the scheme, 7 supported it with reservations and 2 supported it.
How good the farmland is
Miller’s own agricultural land report, revised in September 2026, graded the surveyed land:
| Grade | Description | Hectares | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | Excellent | 3.8 | 29% |
| Grade 2 | Very good | 2.4 | 19% |
| Subgrade 3a | Good | 2.1 | 16% |
| Subgrade 3b | Moderate | 4.6 | 36% |
Grades 1, 2 and 3a count as “best and most versatile” land in national policy. That is 8.3 hectares, or 64% of the site.
What the official consultees have said
- Kent County Council, as flood authority, has placed a holding objection, dated 3 November. It said several drainage drawings in the flood report are illegible. It asked for more small-scale drainage across the site, and noted that the proposed basins are up to 2 metres deep.
- NHS Kent and Medway asked for £291,872 towards GP and community health space within three miles. It expects the scheme to add 502 people to the lists of West Malling Group Practice and Wateringbury Surgery.
- Natural England does not object on protected wildlife sites. It said the site is within or close to the Kent Downs National Landscape, and left the landscape judgement to the council.
- The Environment Agency had no comments.
- Southern Water has started a capacity check and had not replied by 27 October.
West Malling Parish Council’s response is not yet on the file.
What happens next
The portal lists the expected decision level as “delegated”, which means a planning officer rather than a committee. Its determination deadline is 18 January 2027, with an agreed extension to 31 August 2027.
There is a national twist. Since 11 May 2026, a council that wants to refuse an application of 150 or more homes must first consult the Secretary of State. The borough first met that rule in August, when ministers called in the 1,300-home East Malling scheme after councillors resolved to refuse it.
What it means for you
- Comment by Wednesday 18 November on the application page, using reference 26/01667/OA. Comments that cite planning reasons, such as highway safety, Green Belt, farmland or drainage, carry weight. The number of objections alone does not decide an application.
- If you live on Offham Road, Fatherwell Road or Ewell Road, the access and construction traffic questions affect you most. The access drawing is on the documents tab.
- If you need an affordable home, up to 115 would be built. The borough’s policy asks for 70% of affordable homes to be for social rent, unless circumstances dictate otherwise. The final split would be set in the legal agreement.
Our planning news page tracks other large applications across the borough. We will report the parish council’s response and the final comment count after 18 November.
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