Maidstone Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered an update on the emerging new local plan at its meeting on 20 October 2026, with officers reporting that 183 sites had been put forward during a summer call for sites exercise and that consultants had been appointed across twelve evidence-base studies.
A total of 183 sites were submitted to Maidstone Borough Council during a call for sites exercise that ran from 15 June to 23 August 2026, as the council advances work on a new local plan for the borough. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered a progress report on the plan at its meeting on 20 October 2026.
Greenfield land dominates submissions
Officers reported that the overwhelming majority of sites submitted are for potential future housing development, and that most are on greenfield or mixed greenfield/brownfield land. Only approximately 8% of submissions are on brownfield land, which officers said reflects a more general decline in brownfield land supply in recent years.
Officers are now undertaking a detailed review of submissions through the Strategic Land Availability Assessment process, which involves specialist technical inputs covering heritage, biodiversity, flood risk, highways and public transport accessibility.
Evidence base consultants appointed
Following a six-week procurement exercise using the Kent Portal, the council has appointed consultants to produce twelve evidence base documents to support the new local plan. These cover a water cycle study, climate change study, renewable energy capacity study, green and blue infrastructure study, environmental outcomes report and strategic environmental assessment, employment land study, retail capacity study, strategic housing market assessment, parking standards, local transport strategy, settlement hierarchy and community infrastructure capacity assessment, and a viability assessment and community infrastructure levy review.
A separate procurement exercise is under way to appoint consultants for an accommodation assessment for Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showpeople pitches and plots. Officers noted this exercise lags slightly behind the wider procurement as a result of a decision on 1 July 2026 to withdraw an emerging development plan document on that topic and instead address it within the new local plan.
National policy changes and infrastructure engagement
Officers told the committee that a new National Planning Policy Framework, published on 17 August 2026, introduces a formal distinction between national plan-making policies and National Development Management Policies, meaning local plans should not repeat what is contained in the latter. A new layer of plan-making through Spatial Development Strategies, which will sit above local plans, has also been formally introduced.
Stage one of an infrastructure capacity assessment was completed between May and July 2026, with responses received from a range of providers including Kent County Council, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, the Environment Agency, Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue, South East Coast Ambulance Service, Natural England, utility companies, rail operators and bus operators. An Infrastructure Position Statement is to be presented to the Planning and Communities Policy Advisory Committee and Cabinet in November 2026.
Next steps
Officers recommended that preliminary work continue, with the intention of bringing a draft scoping consultation document (Regulation 20), an updated plan timetable, a formal Notice of Intention to Commence, a Strategic Environmental Assessment Scoping Report, and a Gateway 1 Readiness Checker to the November 2026 Policy Advisory Committee and Cabinet. The cross-party Local Plan Member Steering Group has met four times since April 2026 and has begun work on visioning for the new plan.
The council had not published the minutes of the meeting at the time of writing, so the committee’s decision is not yet on the public record.