Objectors to a plan to turn a family house in Barming Heath into a children’s care home say they still do not know whether it will get a public committee hearing, now that councillors’ power to call in applications has ended.
Maidstone Borough Council told Kent Local News on 3 November that it had still not decided whether a planning application to turn a family house in Barming Heath into a children’s residential care home will go to its Planning Committee, and that it expected to know more “over the coming weeks”. National changes that removed councillors’ power to call in applications took effect on 31 October 2026, and on 3 November the planning website still showed the application as awaiting decision, with no committee date.
A resident who objects to the application told Kent Local News on 2 November that he had still not heard whether it would go to committee. Objectors say they are worried it will be decided by officers, without a public hearing.
What the application proposes
Application 26/503129/FULL seeks a change of use from a house (Use Class C3) to a children’s residential care home (Use Class C2) on a residential estate in the council’s Barming Heath and Teston ward. Kent Local News is not publishing the address.
The applicant’s planning documents say the home would care for a maximum of three children aged 10 to 17, would be regulated by Ofsted, and would involve no external alterations to the building. Two support workers would be on duty during the day and two waking-night staff overnight, on staggered 12-hour shifts so that staff do not all arrive or leave at once. A registered manager would normally be on site on weekdays from 9am to 5pm, and the property has one on-site parking space.
The council’s planning website lists the application’s expected decision level as “Delegated Decision” and gives a determination deadline of 25 November 2026. The council first told Kent Local News on 23 October that no decision had been made on whether it would go to committee.
How the committee decision will be made
The council said that from 31 October new national rules decide which applications can be considered by Planning Committee. Under them, Schedule 1 applications cannot go to committee, and Schedule 2 applications may go to committee where the Head of Planning and the Chair of Planning agree that the relevant criteria are met. It said decisions “will be recorded in line with the national requirements”.
“Councillor and Parish Council call-in powers are removed under the new national rules,” the council said. “Residents can still comment on planning applications in the usual way and relevant planning matters raised will still be considered before a decision is made.”
In a press release on 26 October, the council said that from 31 October “all current applications that are not on the published agenda for the October planning committee will be considered under the new system”, and that “all existing Councillor and Parish Council committee call in requests can no longer be accommodated”. It said residents, parish councils and others will still be able to speak for three minutes at committee meetings, and that it will publish the outcome of, and reasons for, decisions on which applications go to committee. Kent Local News reported those changes on 27 October.
The next Planning Committee meets on 12 November 2026. The council said on 23 October that no decision had been made on which applications would go to that meeting, and that applications being considered for it would be assessed against the new national criteria. Asked on 3 November whether a decision had been made since 31 October, including for the 12 November meeting, it said: “At this stage, no decision has been made whether this application is going to Planning Committee or not. We expect to know more over the coming weeks.”
Ward councillor Allison Sweetman has asked for residents’ objections to be taken into account. In a comment published on the planning website on 16 October, she wrote: “I believe as it is a material objection which comes under schedule 2 Criterion B it should be considered”. She said the concerns were about vehicle and staff movements, on-street parking that is already under pressure from hospital staff and visitors, and possible noise and disruption at shift changes.
The timeline
The council said pre-application advice was issued on 1 July 2026. The application was first received on 13 August, and validated on 30 September. The council said the delay was “due to insufficient information submitted”: a Certificate B and owner’s notice and a revised red-line site location plan had to be sought from the applicant.
Neighbour notification letters dated 22 September gave the usual 21 days for comments. Because the proposal could affect the setting of a listed building, the application was also advertised in the press, and the council said that consultation ran until 22 October. “All comments received on or before that date will be considered,” it said. It declined to say which addresses were sent letters, saying it does not consider it appropriate to disclose residential addresses in response to a media enquiry.
On the site notice, the council’s answers, sent on 23 October, said a notice “has not yet been displayed” and would now be put up, giving a further 21 days for comments from the date it is posted. Asked about this, the council said the planning department had answered that question before 20 October, while its other answers were still being gathered, and that the notice had since been put up. On 26 October it confirmed: “The site notice was erected on 20 Oct.” The planning website gives a closing date for comments of 10 November, and a resident told Kent Local News he saw a notice outside the property on 21 October.
Residents’ objections
The council said 21 representations had been received at the time of the planning officer’s response. On 3 November the planning website listed 29 neighbour comments, the latest published on 21 October.
Objectors raise parking, staff and visitor movements, noise through shared walls, and whether the house is suitable for the use. MidKent Environmental Health raised no objection, subject to a condition requiring a noise management plan, including a complaints procedure, to be approved before the home opens.
Craig Stevens, who lives nearby and contacted Kent Local News, said: “My concern is that detailed objections may be considered solely through an officer decision, without the opportunity for residents to address the committee.”
He asked us to establish the application’s timeline. “I have no evidence that anyone deliberately delayed the application. That is precisely why I would welcome scrutiny of the chronology,” he said.
Mr Stevens said residents recognise “there is a clear need for appropriate accommodation for children requiring care”, but are entitled to expect careful consideration of the setting, the quality of accommodation for those children, and the effect on existing households.
Kent Local News invited the applicant to respond to residents’ concerns. No response had been received by the time of publication.
Key information
- Application reference: 26/503129/FULL, on the Mid Kent planning website
- Comments can still be made until the site notice period ends; the planning website currently shows 10 November 2026
- Next Planning Committee: 12 November 2026
- Determination deadline: 25 November 2026
Sources
- Maidstone Borough Council / Mid Kent Planning: application 26/503129/FULL, details, important dates and documents (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Maidstone Borough Council Communications, written answers to Kent Local News, 23 October 2026, follow-up emails on the site notice, 26 October 2026, and email on the committee decision, 3 November 2026
- Maidstone Borough Council press release SS/094/26, Planning changes coming into force from 31 October, 26 October 2026
- Cllr Allison Sweetman, consultee comment on 26/503129/FULL, 16 October 2026
- MidKent Environmental Health, consultee comment on 26/503129/FULL, 15 October 2026
- Applicant’s Planning Statement, Operational Management Statement and Shift Patterns Clarification Statement, on the planning file
- Correspondence from Craig Stevens to Kent Local News, 14 October to 2 November 2026