The former military training ground site at Lodge Hill, which is owned by the Ministry of Defence, was identified in the draft Core Strategy for the development of around 5,000 homes.
The Government's conservation adviser Natural England notified in March 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.
The Planning Inspector appointed to carry out the examination of the plan subsequently wrote to the Council and recommended that it should withdraw the Core Strategy and start work on a new Local Plan. She 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".
Last month, Natural England confirmed the Lodge Hill site as a SSSI. “The evidence clearly points to this site being one of the most important strongholds for nightingales in the country," said Natural England chairman Poul Christensen in a statement. "Confirming this land as a SSSI gives the clearest possible recognition of this.”
The Council said in a statement that it will now start work on a new Local Plan.
