Six-bedroom staff accommodation at Iden Manor Nursing Home, Staplehurst

The site and surroundings

The site is in the countryside east of Iden Manor Nursing Home, within the conservation area and Low Weald Landscape of Local Value, near protected trees.

“Planning Committee Report 18 June 2026 REPORT SUMMARY Relevant planning history 23/505361/FULL Erection of a four storey 70 bedroom nursing home (use Class C2) with 18 parking spaces, sustainable urban drainage and associated works.”

“Planning Committee Report 18 June 2026 It is entered under a stone porch supported by Doric columns, and on the south- east, or principal garden front, is a carved oak five-arched loggia with mosaic pavement. Location of application building (red outline) 1.03 Given the quality of design and materials and architectural value Iden Manor is of sufficient quality for statutory listing if submitted to Historic England.”

Officer report

Consultation and objections

Highways, minerals and ecology consultees raised no objections, while residents and the parish council objected on amenity, visual, drainage, access and policy grounds.

“Planning Committee Report 18 June 2026 4. LOCAL REPRESENTATIONS Local residents 4.01 One representation received objecting to the application for the following (summarised) reasons: Loss of privacy Visual harm Loss of light Drainage issues Not in accordance with policy CD3 Staplehurst Parish Council 4.0 Objection on the grounds that the development is contrary to policy: LPRHOU5 as new residential development expected to achieve net density of 30 dwellings per hectare.”

“Planning Committee Report 18 June 2026 5. CONSULTATIONS (Please note that summaries of consultation responses are set out below. Comments are discussed in more detail in the section where considered necessary) KCC Highways 5.01 No objection. KCC Minerals and Waste 5.02 No objection. KCC Ecology 5.03 No objections, subject to conditions relating to archaeological assessments. 6.”

Officer report

Further concerns raised

Further neighbour representations raised privacy, future occupants’ amenity, visual harm, loss of light, drainage, policy and access concerns.

“Page 98-116 25/504006/FULL Following publication of the officer report additional representations have been received from the neighbouring occupier. The case officer response to these points is below with clarification of sections of the committee report. Number of representations received. The officer report refers to a single neighbour representation received.”

“Amenity of future Occupants. All the representations raise amenity concerns relating to occupants of the proposed building and the existing neighbouring mobile outside the application site on the adjacent plot. Paragraph 6.44 of the main officer report refers to the outdoor terrace being 42m 2 which is incorrect, this terrace has a floor space of 18m 2 . Poor amenity from the proposed bedrooms is also raised.”

Officer report

Who spoke

An objector, a parish council representative and the applicant addressed the committee.

What members considered

Members considered the accommodation isolated, poorly related to the main building, difficult to access, visually intrusive and potentially harmful through shift patterns and noise.

“Contrary to the recommendations the Committee resolved to refuse. In making the decision, the Committee considered that the proposed ancillary accommodation would poorly relate to the main building on site and appear as an isolated addition to the application site. The site was considered unsustainable with poor accessibility for deliveries, visual intrusion and insufficient access to amenities.”

“The Chair asked that officers refer to the relevant policies in the Maidstone Borough Council Local Plan Review (2024).”

Minutes

Why permission was refused

Permission was refused because the accommodation would be isolated, harm neighbouring amenity and provide a poor living environment for future occupants.

“The proposed accommodation due to its height and siting would result in a harmful loss of amenity to occupants of the neighbouring mobile associated with Iden Manor Farm in terms of visual intrusion and noise disturbance arising from the nature of the proposed accommodation and the shift work of future occupiers. The development is contrary to Maidstone Borough Local Plan Review (2024) policy LPRSP15 and guidance within the NPPF (2024).”

“The proposal, due to its significant distance from the main building, and lack of formal access arrangements, would result in a poor living environment for future occupants and as such fails to safeguard their amenity. The development is contrary to Maidstone Borough Local Plan Review (2024) policy LPRSP15 and guidance within the NPPF (2024).”

Minutes