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The register/MC/26/0432

Three homes at Westfield, Town Road

Town Road, Cliffe Woods. Refused.

The register entry

Three homes at Westfield, Town Road, Town Road, Cliffe Woods

Refused
Homes 3Developer Private applicant
MC/26/0432 (opens in a new tab)

A full application for three detached two-storey, three-bedroom houses on about 2,556 square metres of the garden of Westfield, a bungalow on the western side of Town Road between Cliffe Woods and Cliffe, with a new access onto Town Road. Received and validated on 4 March 2026. The site lies outside any settlement boundary, in the countryside. The parish council objected, on highway safety near a bend and the brow of a hill and because the site lies in the gap between the two villages that the Neighbourhood Plan protects. Dickens Country Protection Society also objected. Medway refused it on 24 September 2026, by a decision of its officers, for five reasons. The first is that it would bring more housing into the rural gap between Cliffe and Cliffe Woods and undermine the separation between them, contrary to the Medway Local Plan, policy SUSDEV1 of the Neighbourhood Plan and the National Planning Policy Framework 2026. The second also cites Neighbourhood Plan policies H6, SUSDEV1 and SUSDEV4. Medway’s internal target date had been 29 April 2026.

Refused for 5 reasons
  1. Housing in the countryside, in the rural gap between Cliffe and Cliffe Woods, undermining their separation
  2. A consolidated suburban form out of keeping with the rural character of the area
  3. Not enough highway information to show a safe access onto Town Road
  4. No secured off-site units for the mandatory 10% biodiversity net gain
  5. Failure to address effects on the Thames Estuary and Marshes and Medway Estuary and Marshes Special Protection Areas
  • The gap between Cliffe and Cliffe Woods
  • A new access onto Town Road, the B2000
View MC/26/0432 on the portal (opens in a new tab)Checked 2026-10-09

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Three homes at Westfield, Town Road, refused

Medway refused MC/26/0432 on 24 September 2026. The application was for three detached houses in the garden of Westfield, on the western side of Town Road between Cliffe Woods and Cliffe. Medway’s officers gave five reasons. The first is that it would bring more housing into the rural gap between Cliffe and Cliffe Woods and undermine the separation between them, contrary to policy SUSDEV1 of the Neighbourhood Plan among others. The others concern the rural character of the area, the access onto Town Road, biodiversity net gain and the Special Protection Areas. The parish council had objected. The application now has its own page on this register.

MC/26/0432 on Medway’s file: Three homes at Westfield, Town Road, refused (opens in a new tab)

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  1. Three homes at Westfield, Town Road, refused

    Medway refuses MC/26/0432, three houses in the garden of Westfield on Town Road, for five reasons. The first is that it would bring more housing into the rural gap between Cliffe and Cliffe Woods, contrary to policy SUSDEV1 of the Neighbourhood Plan among others. The parish council had objected.