The former hotel and wedding venue, which closed 18 months ago, has been targeted by vandals while the owner’s attempts to redevelop it have been dogged by delays.
Geoffrey Goddard applied to Tonbridge and Malling Council for permission to repurpose the Hadlow Manor Hotel in Goose Green even earlier – in June 2022 – but has since received no decision.
Now a frustrated Mr Goddard has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate for indecision, as councils are due to decide on the applications within eight weeks.
It is seeking permission to convert the original listed Georgian hotel building into six flats.
He also wants to demolish the 1980s extension and build six detached houses in its place, making 12 in total.
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The property has been empty since the end of January last year and is subject to vandalism despite being protected by CCTV.
Villagers expressed concern about his future. One said: “It would only take one step to get there and start the fire and the listed building could be lost.
In his submission to the inspectorate, Mr Goddard alleges inefficiency on the part of the council, which saw multiple planning officers deal with his case.
His agent said: “The first planning officer made a number of statements which were later confirmed by other officers to be incorrect or misleading.
“Communication was difficult throughout, with long delays between email responses and the inability to contact officers by phone.
Mr Goddard made a formal complaint to the council about the delays, after which a new officer was assigned to the application and the original officer left the office.
However, the new officer asked for an extension so that further consultations could be carried out.
A representative said: “Communication has been extremely difficult throughout this period, with over 50 calls to local authorities at designated hours not picked up by the assigned officer and repeated requests for a meeting ignored.
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“Emails were rarely answered directly and contact was often renewed only to ask for a further extension of time.”
Finally, in November last year, Mr Goddard was told that the planning officer would recommend the application for approval in his report.
But questions remained over the council’s proposed Section 106 agreement, which is a statutory contract that requires Mr Goddard to undertake certain mitigation measures.
To date, however, the council has not been able to create a draft contract that it could sign.
Mr Goddard eventually appealed, claiming the council had acted unreasonably, resulting in significant additional costs for him.
A spokesman for Tonbridge and Malling Council said: “This is a complex application for a large development which required what is known as a section 106 agreement which required a lot of officer time.
“While we were trying to determine the application within the time limit, other factors, including the turnover of officials and the implementation of a new IT system, slowed things down.
“The application will now be determined by the planning inspectorate.
Curiously, after Mr Gooddard lodged his appeal, and two years after the application was first made, the council posted a notice on its Facebook page informing people of the application and inviting their views.
A spokesman said: “There’s nothing unusual about this – we routinely publicize major projects like this.”
To date the council has only received one additional comment from a Darwins Drive resident who said: “I have no objection to the development of this site.
“Anything is better than an abandoned building.
The original part of the Hadlow Manor Hotel was built in 1790 as a replacement for the former 16th century timbered building. It was then known as the Leaver House.
Details of the planning application can be viewed on the Tonbridge and Malling website under application number 22/01237.
Find out about planning applications that affect you on the Public Notices Portal.
Mr Goddard’s company, CQK Ltd, owns two other hotels, both in Surrey – the Reigate Manor Hotel and the Hartsfield Manor Hotel.
In its latest accounts for March 2023, the company made a profit of £788,000 on a turnover of almost £8m.
When the Hadlow Manor Hotel closed suddenly in January last year, 37 couples who had booked their wedding reception were left stranded despite their deposits being refunded.
29 employees lost their jobs. The company said the site was no longer economically viable.