Campaigners protest against bid for 1,600 new homes in Birchington

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00:00Protesting outside the council as a decision is due to expand Burgington by 1600 homes.

00:07Since proposals went through, there's been fierce opposition, but neighbours say infrastructure won't cope.

00:13I'll show you, and well, that's not really the best way of winning an argument,

00:21but it can bring out the emotions in you and you think, well, why are they doing this?

00:26I've been very fortunate. I've been in Thanet since I was three.

00:31I've been elsewhere as well, come back again, but it's about 60-odd years now.

00:38I've just changed my doctor's surgeon from Burgington because it's bad enough as it is now,

00:43so what the hell is it going to be like when this all comes into play?

00:47I think it's well. We've got such a good community spirit in the village.

00:51We've got people who go around litter picking, people do the flowers in the communal areas.

00:57It's a real community and we wouldn't lose that.

01:00Inside locals packed the public gallery as the developer made the case,

01:04pledging to contribute some £46 million to community facilities.

01:09A new two-form entry primary school, nearly £8 million towards a secondary school,

01:15£1.4 million towards the future expansion of Burgington Medical Centre,

01:20another £2 million towards the upgrade of local facilities.

01:24These are all facilities that will benefit not just the residents in this development,

01:28but all the residents in Burgington too.

01:32Fundamentally, however, this scheme will deliver 1,600 much-needed houses to the local area.

01:38One of the biggest concerns is the potential harm to the countryside

01:41and building on what is acknowledged to be prime agricultural land,

01:45but officers say the economic and social benefits significantly outweigh that.

01:50The delivery test policy under the MPPF does mean that any refusal

01:55has to significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits of providing development.

01:59We do consider that those benefits outweigh the harm in this instance

02:04resulting from the development in terms of the identified impact on heritage,

02:09as well as the additional loss of agricultural land and the landscape visual impact of that.