Harrietsham School New Development Site Known As Hilton Court Ashford Road Harrietsham Kent ME17 1AJ Data via plota.co.uk

Proposal

Section 73 - Application for minor material amendment to approved plans condition 2 (to allow retention of part of old school canteen building for use as an amenity outbuilding to Plot 3) pursuant to for - Change of use of existing school to provide 2no. 3 bedroom dwellings, including erection of a single storey rear extension and insertion of rooflights and a dormer. Erection of a detached 4 bedroom dwelling with double garage, widening of existing vehicle entrance to Church Road, and new landscaped access roads, gardens and perimeter walls (allowed at appeal). Data via plota.co.uk

View original council record ↗Last checked

Application progress

Received
17 Apr 2026
Approved
24 Jun 2026

Approved on 24 Jun 2026 · Delegated Decision · Last checked 7 Jul 2026

Associated applications 5

Site constraints 5

Habitat network: Network Enhancement Zone 2
Where habitat is joined up enough to work as a network. Context, not a constraint on its own.
Also on the record
Tree preservation order 3 m away: 5001/2021/TPO; National landscape 359 m away: Kent Downs; Inside the Harrietsham built-up area; the 1970s provisional farmland map had this area as grade 2, but it predates the buildings here and the current map does not class it as farmland.
Not affected
Outside flood zones 2 and 3 · Not green belt · No listed building at the site

Checked on 11 September 2026. Historic England, the Environment Agency, Natural England and council datasets, Open Government Licence. A boundary can run through a site and the council holds the definitive record: confirm with the council before relying on this.

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Important details

Council
Maidstone
Application type
Full
Postcode
ME17 1AJ
Received
17 Apr 2026
Validated
17 Apr 2026
Ward
Harrietsham, Lenham And North Downs
Parish
Harrietsham
Case officer
Show
Target decision
12 Jun 2026
Decision
Application Permitted
Decision date
24 Jun 2026
Decision level
Delegated Decision
Applicant
Show
Agent
Ideaplan

How this decision compares

Decided in 68 days from validation, 12 days slower than Maidstone's median of 56 for changes of use. Approved, as 83% of changes of use here are.

68%decided within 8 weeks
83%approved
71decided in the last year

Plota live figures for changes of use decided by Maidstone in the last twelve months, from validation. Maidstone decision record →

Consultation & key dates

Alt. reference
PP-14852940
Env. assessment
No
Maidstone
Planning Authority Score
7.1/10
Good
#58 of 296 councils
Relevant to this application:
Change of use

Maidstone is faster than most councils at deciding householder applications, ranking #34 out of 296. Only 30% of applications have the time limit extended, well below the 41% national average - the council usually decides on time. Householder applications are slightly more likely to be approved here (91%) than the national average (90%).

Faster than most councils
for householder decisions
These figures are council-wide context, not a prediction for this application. View full council performance
Maidstone decision statistics
Based on MHCLG data, the year to March 2026
84%
Overall approval rate
Below avg (87%) #225 of 296
91%
Householder approved
Above avg (90%) #175 of 296
81%
Decided in 8 weeks
Above avg (63%) #34 of 296
30%
Extended time limit
Below avg (41%) #55 of 296
76%
Minor dwellings approved
136 decided (1-9 homes)
75%
Major dwellings approved
20 decided (10+ homes)
75%
Change of use approved
44 decided
1,110
Total decisions
181 refused in the year to March 2026