The Council had identified the former military training ground at Lodge Hill, which is owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), for the development of around 5,000 homes.
However, in March, the Government's conservation adviser Natural England announced that it had extended an existing SSSI at Chattenden Woods to incorporate the land at Lodge Hill because of its nightingale population and special grassland and woodland. It said that more than 80% of the local nightingale population is distributed across the proposed development area.
The Planning Inspector appointed to carry out the examination of the plan has now written http://www.medway.gov.uk/pdf/Letter%20to%20Medway%20Council%2021%20June%202013.pdf (9-page / 70KB PDF) to the Council and said that the modifications required to the plan as a result of the SSSI designation were "so significant as to amount to the plan being rewritten".
"A significant amount of further work and consultation would have to be undertaken. I consider the changes required are so significant that I am unable to deal with the matter through main modifications and that the only reasonable course of action is for the Council to withdraw the Core Strategy and prepare a new Local Plan," the Inspector said.
She said that the development at Lodge Hill would have a "significant adverse impact" on the SSSI and on the National Planning Policy Framework's objective of halting the overall decline in biodiversity. The Inspector added that she was "not convinced" that there are no reasonable alternatives to the proposed development site.
"The Framework only requires mitigation and compensation measures to be considered where adverse impacts are unavoidable. However, in considering the balance to be struck between all the dimensions of sustainable development I am not persuaded that the social and economic benefits that would flow from development on this site would outweigh the harm to a site of national importance for biodiversity," she said.
Council leader Rodney Chambers said in a statement that the decision by the Planning Inspector was "surprising and frustrating" and called on the Government to "sort this out - for local people, for the growth of our area and for the economy".
"There was extensive public consultation before the plans were put forward including nearly 90 hours of public exhibitions and design workshops. As a result of that consultation nearly half the 620 acre site has been devoted to public open space, community gardens and extensive areas of woodland," Chambers said.
"We have worked with numerous people over a 17 year period since this site was first identified by the government as one for development to make sure this site is suitable for sustainable development, bringing the housing needed to support our area's growth in a way that is sensitive to the natural habitat," he said.
"It is unthinkable that more than £35 million, which has been invested by the Government, Medway Council and the developer to ensure the viability of this project, could now simply be written off," he added.
