Despite more than 700 letters of objection, planning officers at Maidstone Borough Council planning are recommending that councillors approve a controversial plan for two new schools to be built on Popes Field, near the Kent Medical Campus in Maidstone.

The application from Bowmer and Kirkland will be considered by the borough’s planning committee members on Thursday, next week, April 25.

The meeting starts at the Town Hall in the High Street at 6pm and it is expected that a large crowd of protestors will attend.

The site falls within the parish of Boxley, but residents in Bearsted and Grove Green fear they will be adversely affected by increased traffic in the area.

The application has been amended slightly since the original submission.

All traffic to the new schools will now use the Kent Medical Campus roundabout. Originally the entrance was going to be from the narrow Bearsted Road.

However there are still concerns about lack of parking on site, increased congestion on the local road network and the wisdom of placing a primary school next to the Cygnet Hospital, which is a facility for those with mental health problems.

The application seeks to construct two schools which will both be run by the Leigh Academies Trust: Bearsted Academy, a primary school, and the Snowfields Academy, a secondary school for children with special needs.

Popes Field is currently designated as a Local Nature Reserve. For the schools to be constructed, the borough council will also have to approve a separate application allowing the nature reserve to be moved to another location. Curiously that application currently comes later on the agenda, after the first proposal to approve the schools.

To read the planning officers' report, click here.