00:00In this tranquil field outside Lenham, trouble is brewing.
00:05In order to meet the government's housing targets, a vast stretch of land between Lenham
00:09and Charing is set for development.
00:12Maidstone Council promises to build 5,000 new homes in this area and promises to create
00:185,000 jobs, a new railway station, schools and plenty of other facilities.
00:23Now although the development project was only meant to begin in 2030, it's already been
00:28met by fierce local opposition due to, amongst other things, it running heavily over budget
00:33already and now several local council people have had enough.
00:38Husband and wife Tom and Janetta Sams have been councillors for the Hurtsham, Lenham and
00:43North Downs ward for decades.
00:46But after seeing the supplementary planning document for the Heathlands development, they
00:50decided to resign.
00:52Lots of the things seem to be not costed.
00:55The railway is budgeted to cost 13 million, the rail station, which we know it will be
01:0230 or 40 million.
01:05The transport annex that has been produced, again, doesn't fit.
01:13The A20 is already very blocked, it's going to be gridlocked all the time.
01:18I think the problem is, is that the people that have designed this won't be living here.
01:23The people that are going, our residents will be living here and they're going to be left
01:27with an infrastructure that won't fit the package.
01:31In their stand against the plans, the Sams have been joined by fellow councillor Cathy Cox,
01:37who tendered her resignation this week.
01:39Cathy's only been around a short while but she's been very active within the community, particularly
01:48in Collingbourne, which is where she lives, and we're really sorry to see Cathy go.
01:53Though refusing interview, council leader Stuart Jeffery said in a statement,
01:57Cathy has served with dedication and professionalism and her departure is a significant loss to
02:02both the council and the community.
02:04We are grateful for her service and wish her well in the future.
02:07While the current administration did not support the original creation of Heathlands,
02:11we remain focused on delivering a sustainable development that benefits the borough.
02:15The resignation of all three of the ward's councillors has triggered a triple by-election,
02:19with the date yet to be announced.
02:21But what remains clear is that the Heathlands garden scheme continues to divide local residents.
02:27I think it's quite a nice little town.
02:29I think by adding more houses, you're definitely going to bring some riff-raff.
02:33I think it'd be great for local businesses as there are quite a few businesses here,
02:37so we can always benefit with more customers.
02:40When you're taking away the structure of the village, it's moving from a village to an actual town,
02:45it's set to a small town.
02:48And the atmosphere is completely going from here.
02:52Alfie Rowe for KMTV in Lenham.
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