Deadline extension for quarry filling for grade-I Manor Farm barn redevelopment and housing development approved by Medway Council planning committee

The deadline for infilling a quarry so housing can be built has been extended for a second time - much to the frustration of councillors.

Plans have been drawn up for 181 houses and the restoration of the Grade I-listed, 15th-Century Manor Farm barn in Strood so it can become a wedding venue.

The plot is between the A289 Berwick Way, Upnor Road, Parsonage Lane and the A228 Frindsbury Hill.

However, the development is reliant on infilling the quarry and an application to do so was approved in 2015.

Plans for the new estate were subsequently agreed in 2021.

The deadline for infilling had to be extended from the end of 2021 to the end of 2024 - and now a further extension has been applied for.

Developers say it will take until the end of 2027 to finish the quarry work.

In May, it was estimated half the void had been infilled.

Also included within the previous application was the construction of a secondary school, which has since been delivered and the Thinking Schools Academy Trusts’ Maritime Academy opened this month.

Medway Council’s planning committee members approved the time extension on Wednesday (September 25) - but many did so reluctantly.

Council planners said the developer was confident it could complete the work within the extended time.

The report said there was a void of 350,000 cubic metres remaining which required just under 35,000 truck loads to fill.

The report says the 36-month extension would mean an average of 822 loads per month - 38 per day.

Planners say the extension was sufficient because the 12-month average number of loads for work already done amounted to 1,093 per month.

However some councillors said the impact on residents was too significant and leniency should not be granted.

Cllr Stephen Hubbard (Ind), ward councillor for where the quarry is located, says the council should make the developer get on with building the homes rather than delaying them to infill the quarry - which he says may not even happen by the new deadline.

He said noise and dust from the infill of the quarry had plagued residents for years and, as the work went on, would only get worse.

He added: “Enough is enough. The infill has been active for a very long time now - week after week, month after month, year after year.

“The delays in the further restoration and redevelopment of the listed Manor Farm Barn are down to the elephant in the room.

“The housing estate must be built before the monies become available to carry out the required works on the barn.

“Two thirds of the housing estate, some 130 homes, has a required ground level that is currently hanging somewhere in mid-space, well above the quarry floor.

“Floating housing sounds like science fiction - well it’s certainly fiction here.”

He said the council should reject the extension and the housing should be built in the quarry as it is now.

He continued: “Will the proposed three-year extension be long enough to raise the ground levels to the required profile? I expect not - the history tells us not.

“I strongly suggest the developer comes forward with an alternative housing proposal for the two thirds of the estate hanging in space and those houses be built within the quarry.”

Some councillors agreed the extension should be denied as the project had had ample time.

Cllr Gary Etheridge said the council had already given the development extensive help to get the infilling done, and yet it still was not complete.

He said: “The original proposal for this, some 20 years ago, was the restoration of a barn and artisan cottages surrounding the pit.

“Twenty years hence and we’re still talking about filling this pit and it’s not happened.

“All sorts of things are being blamed - Covid and issues with in-fill material - but this council allowed additional vehicles to go in throughout the week, extending their operating times, and they still didn’t manage it.

“How do they intend to guarantee, if we give them another extension, that they will meet that target?”

However other councillors said they had no choice but to approve the extension.

Cllr Michael Pearce (IndGr) said: “Looking at this objectively, I don’t think we’ve got much choice but to grant the extension because we are beholden to the applicant getting on with this as quickly as possible.

“Nothing can happen on that site until this is filled in - I don’t think we’ve got any other choice because we haven’t got much of a stick to hit them with really.”

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) agreed, saying: “It’s disappointing that it’s taking them so long to do the infill, but we desperately need the land to build on.

“This is effectively creating new building land out of what was just a void.

“I will welcome it when it is done and the sooner it’s done the better for everyone.”

And Cllr Eddie Peake (Lab) said: “If we don’t fill this in, presumably that means we cannot use it and therefore we will not be able to pursue the great need we have for housing.

“I know it’s easy for me to say as I’m not a resident - and this must be like having root-canal treatment - but if it needs to be done, it’s got to be done.”

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The application for the extension of the time to fill in the quarry from the end of 2024 to the end of 2027 was approved, with 13 votes for and one against.