Ashford Borough Council’s planning committee considered a proposal by the Canterbury Diocesan Board of Finance to build 15 dwellings on land at the Vicarage, Ashford Road, St Michaels, Tenterden, when it met on 16 September 2026.

A proposal to build 15 homes on land at the Vicarage, Ashford Road, St Michaels, Tenterden was considered by Ashford Borough Council’s planning committee on 16 September 2026. The application, reference PA/2025/2327, was submitted by the Canterbury Diocesan Board of Finance Limited, of Diocesan House, Lady Woottons Green, Canterbury.

What is proposed

The scheme would involve the erection of 15 dwellings, a new road junction and associated landscaping and open space on land adjoining the built edge of St Michaels. Officers noted the site is approximately 400 metres from local services and 190 metres from the primary school, with footways, street lighting and bus services along the A28.

An updated site layout plan was presented to the committee, amended to show the position of a relocated electricity substation and the setting back of the western site boundary of unit 1 into the garden of the Vicarage. The amended plan also identified Goodwin House, a dwelling to the north of the site that had not been built when the applicant’s 2020 survey was carried out.

Objections from local councils

Both High Halden Parish Council and Tenterden Town Council objected to the application. High Halden Parish Council raised concerns about the principle of development, cumulative growth, landscape character, highway evidence, ecology and biodiversity net gain, archaeology, and water supply. It argued that the proposal was not physically well-related to High Halden and that the south-western corner of the site falls within the Tenterden Neighbourhood Plan area.

Tenterden Town Council requested that any Section 106 contributions be directed towards local SEND places and facilities, improvements to Tenterden Recreation Ground including children’s play space and outdoor sports provision, and that the town council be given the opportunity to bid for Section 106 funding towards culture, including heritage. Officers noted that Section 106 contributions may only be secured and spent on measures that satisfy the statutory tests and said the requests did not alter their recommendation.

Officer responses to concerns

On highways, KCC Highways and Transportation confirmed it remained satisfied that sufficient information had been provided to assess the highway implications and maintained its no-objection position. Officers noted that a development of 15 dwellings would not ordinarily be expected to generate significant traffic movements.

On ecology, KCC Ecological Advice Service advised on 7 September 2026 that sufficient ecological and biodiversity net gain information had been provided for determination. The metric identified a deficit of 17.67 habitat units and 0.36 hedgerow units, which officers said could be made up off-site through the statutory biodiversity gain condition.

On archaeology, KCC Archaeology confirmed in updated advice dated 4 September 2026 that it welcomed planting shown along the alignment of a Roman road and was satisfied that archaeological issues could be addressed through conditions, including pre-commencement field evaluation.

On water supply, officers acknowledged concerns about low and erratic potable water pressure raised by the parish council, town council and local residents, but said no technical evidence had been submitted to demonstrate the site could not be supplied and that the matter did not provide a reasonable basis to refuse or defer the application.

Decision not yet published

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.

Sources

Top image: illustrative, computer-generated. Illustrative AI-generated image. This is not a photograph of the Vicarage site at St Michaels, Tenterden or any real identifiable location.