VILLAGERS in Borough Green are fighting to curb the impact of a massive new housing development on their village.

Some £5,000 of parish council money has been spent on a barrister in a bid to overturn a plan to build 200 houses on Isles Quarry West, opposite the doctor's surgery.

The proposals are part of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council's 15-year housing plan for the area, known as the Local Development Framework (LDF).

A planning application has been submitted by developer Crest Nicholson and is expected to come up at a council planning meeting in the next month.

But parish council chairman Mike Taylor said top barrister Matthew Horton QC was trying to ascertain whether the inclusion of Isles Quarry West in the LDF is legal.

He said it might not be enough to overturn the scheme, but he hoped to gain a better deal for the village in diverting new traffic away from the residential areas.

"We do not think there will be enough actually to overturn the LDF, but it is hoped the opinion will be a strong lever, together with the other issues, to allow us to reach a compromise," Mr Taylor said.

"The current design will cause traffic to come into the village – what we want is the traffic to be diverted through the road. There would be less local impact.

"The barrister has visited the site with me."

Meanwhile, borough councillor David Evans is concerned about the main access road to the site, known as the Haul Road, which he thinks might not be wide enough to accommodate two-way traffic.

He was also concerned that heavy vehicle traffic travelling to and from Stangate Quarry would affect residents of the development.

But a spokeswoman for developer Crest Nicholson said: "We are currently in discussion with Kent County Council regarding the width of Haul Road and are in the process of amending the widths to alleviate any concerns about passing vehicles."

Vehicles travelling to Stangate Quarry would not affect residents, she said.

Steve Humphrey, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council's director of planning and transportation, said: "The council is not aware of any deficiencies in the proposals to improve the existing Haul Road from the A25 to an appropriate standard to provide good access to the proposed housing.

"The prospective developer for Isles Quarry West is currently designing the way in which this access can be maintained to enable the housing development to proceed should planning permission be granted."