Officers back 180 homes off Kennington Road, Willesborough, on 21 October despite a failed flood test, as Ashford has just 3.16 years of housing land.
Up to 180 homes on farmland between the M20 and Kennington Road in Willesborough go back before Ashford’s Planning Committee on Wednesday 21 October. Council planners are recommending approval for a third time.
The committee resolved to grant permission twice in 2025, in June and September. No decision notice was ever issued. The council agreed to look at the application again from scratch after a neighbouring landowner began a judicial review. The new officer report says the scheme fails the flood risk “sequential test”, but should still be approved because the borough is well short of housing land (officer report to Planning Committee, 21 October 2026).
The scheme
The application, PA/2024/1087, is from Quinn Estates Ltd. It is an outline application, so only the access is fixed now. The layout, design and landscaping would come later. The report describes:
- up to 180 homes on 7.56 hectares of arable land, about 1.7km east of the town centre
- 54 affordable homes (30%): 18 for affordable rent and 36 for affordable home ownership
- up to 9 serviced plots for self-builders
- a main entrance and a separate emergency access from the A2070 Kennington Road
- 0.22 hectares of equipped play space and 1.22 hectares of informal green space
The Stour Valley Walk, public footpath AU35, crosses the site. It links Kennington Road with a footbridge over the M20. The site sits about 500m south of Conningbrook Lakes Country Park. A separate application, PA/2024/1146, proposes an engineered wetland on the farmland to the north.
Why it is back
In October 2025 an adjacent landowner told the council they were seeking a judicial review of the 2025 resolutions. The report says the challenge was mainly about alleged errors in the officer report and the developer’s flood assessment.
The council said it would reconsider the application afresh and issue no decision in the meantime. The High Court refused permission for the claim in March 2026, agreeing with the council that it had become academic. The report says an oral hearing at the Court of Appeal is still to come, on whether the claim can proceed.
The developer submitted a new Flood Risk Sequential and Exception Test report in July 2026. It was put out to consultation again.
The flood test the scheme fails
Most of the site is in Flood Zone 1, the lowest risk. A small area along the ditches to the north and east is in Flood Zones 2 and 3. Part of the access road crosses one of those ditches.
The sequential test asks whether lower-risk sites could take the homes instead. The officer found “at least 10 reasonably available alternative sites” that are sequentially preferable. That is a “clear failure”, the report says, and puts the scheme in conflict with Local Plan policy ENV6 and national policy.
Failing the test is not fatal, the report argues. It sets out why officers still back it:
- every home would be in Flood Zone 1
- the access road would cross the ditch on a clear-span bridge built above predicted flood levels, with an allowance for climate change
- the Environment Agency is satisfied the access would be safe in a flood
- officers cannot be sure the other sites will be built, or built in time
The housing shortfall
That last point carries the most weight. National policy expects councils to show five years’ supply of deliverable housing sites. Ashford’s own statement, published in June 2026, put its supply at 3.62 years.
The government’s Housing Delivery Test results came out on 18 August. Ashford scored 75%, below the 85% line, so a 20% buffer is added to the calculation. The report says that cuts the supply to 3.16 years.
Without five years’ supply, the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies with extra force. The officer concludes that the benefits, “critically the timely contribution of the proposal to meeting an evidenced and notable unmet housing need, substantially outweigh the adverse effects”.
The report also finds “a limited amount of harm” to the setting of the Willesborough Lees Conservation Area and nearby listed buildings on Kennington Road. It says the public benefits outweigh it.
Who objects
The report records 15 objections from residents and other interested parties. Their points include:
- loss of farmland, views and habitat
- noise from the M20 and the nearby wastewater treatment works
- congestion on Kennington Road and its junctions
- the design of the access, and calls for a second route
- drainage and flooding off the site
- pressure on health services and other infrastructure
Kennington Community Council objects in principle. It says the land is not allocated in the Local Plan 2030, and that decisions like this belong in the new Local Plan. It also questions building homes next to the main route to France, a sewage works and two factories.
No statutory consultee objects. Kent County Council’s highways team, National Highways, the Environment Agency, Southern Water and the NHS all raise no objection, subject to conditions or payments.
On smell, the council’s environmental protection officer accepted the developer’s odour assessment. It found strong odours within 250m of the treatment works, but not at the homes, which would start about 390m away. The officer noted that complaints have fallen since Southern Water finished work to cut odour at the plant in 2022.
What the developer would pay
If the committee agrees, permission depends on a section 106 agreement. The heads of terms include, for each house:
| Contribution | Per house |
|---|---|
| Primary school places | £7,081.20 |
| Secondary school places | £5,587.19 |
| Land for a new primary school | £2,711 |
| Outdoor sport at the Julie Rose Stadium | £1,504.73 |
| Indoor sport at the Julie Rose Stadium | £582.24 |
| Adult social care | £180.88 |
| Conningbrook Lakes Country Park | £146 plus £47 for upkeep |
Flats pay lower school rates, and one-bedroom homes under 56 square metres pay none. There are also payments towards healthcare, allotments, libraries, a new or better bus service into the town centre, and M20 Junction 10a. The nearest bus stops are 285m and 400m from the site entrance.
The approval would also depend on an “appropriate assessment” showing the homes would not harm the Stodmarsh nature sites downstream. That is the nutrient neutrality test that has held up housing across east Kent.
What it means for you
- The committee decides on Wednesday 21 October at 7pm in the Council Chamber at International House, Dover Place (agenda).
- You can ask to speak, but quickly. Written notice must reach Democratic Services by 3pm on Monday 19 October, by email to democraticservices@ashford.gov.uk or through the council’s Have Your Say form. One speaker for and one against are allowed, first come first served, for three minutes each (public participation scheme).
- A yes is not the end. The layout, house types and landscaping would need further “reserved matters” applications, which are consulted on again.
- If you live on Kennington Road, the report says the road and nearby junctions, including the William Harvey Hospital roundabout, have capacity for the extra traffic.
We will report the decision. Other planning items are on our Ashford planning news page, and travel on Ashford roadworks and travel.
Sources
- Officer report, PA/2024/1087, Planning Committee 21 October 2026, Ashford Borough Council: the site, scheme, planning history, judicial review chronology, consultation responses, the 15 objections, the sequential test findings (paragraphs 157 and 158, 213), the odour assessment (180 to 182), housing land supply (187 and 188), highways and bus stops (106 to 111), the recommendation and the Table 1 heads of terms.
- Planning Committee agenda, 21 October 2026, Ashford Borough Council.
- Summary of the Scheme of Public Participation, Ashford Borough Council: the speaking deadline and rules.
Have your say