Tuesday's planning committee decides the Shelford data centre, 402 student rooms on Sturry Road and 56 retirement flats. Register to speak by 12.30pm Monday.

Two Canterbury City Council meetings have published agendas for the week of 12 October. The big one is Tuesday’s planning committee, which decides a data centre at the Shelford landfill site, 402 student rooms on Sturry Road and 56 retirement flats beside Canterbury West station.

Both meetings are at the Guildhall in St Peter’s Place and start at 7pm. Anyone can watch, and the public can ask to speak.

Tuesday 13 October: planning committee

Officers recommend approving five of the six applications and refusing one. Recommendations are not decisions: in July this committee deferred one scheme and turned down another against officers’ advice, as our planning applications guide records.

The agenda also starts with the election of a chair for the rest of 2026/27.

Data centre, Shelford Farm Estate, Broad Oak Road (CA/25/02094). This is back after the committee deferred it for a site visit on 21 July. The officers’ report describes:

  • a building 30.8m by 40.9m and 11.7m high, with solar panels on its flat roof
  • a 2.7m security fence around the compound
  • a private wire to the Valencia Energy Centre next door, which makes electricity from landfill gas
  • power use of around 140MWh a day when fully used, which the report says is within what the energy centre generates on an average day
  • a full-time staff of four

The report calls it “sovereign AI infrastructure for the UK”. South East Water does not object, on condition that water use is capped at 20 cubic metres a day. Three people objected, on grounds including water use, noise and the landfill gas supply running out. The recommendation is to grant.

Student accommodation, 59-61 Sturry Road (CA/23/00788). The former car dealership, empty since 2023, would be replaced by 402 student rooms: 320 en-suite rooms in shared clusters and 82 studios. The blocks would rise from two to six storeys, with the tallest by the Great Stour. The applicant is Invicta Motors Ltd. Fifty people objected, mostly to the height and scale. The report recommends approval once a legal agreement is signed, including £206,000 towards cycle routes nearby.

Retirement flats, former car park, Station Road West (CA/23/02056). Churchill Retirement Living wants a four-storey block of 56 retirement flats with 19 parking spaces, about 145m from Canterbury West station. It would provide no affordable housing. The policy asks for 30%, but the report says the council’s own viability assessor agrees the scheme cannot afford any. Twenty-four people objected. The recommendation is to grant, with £24,318.29 towards open space.

Herne Bay Table Table, The Boulevard (CA/26/00117). The applicant is McDonald’s Restaurant Limited, which wants new kitchen and air-handling plant on the roof after demolishing a single-storey rear extension. There were 73 objections, and Herne and Broomfield Parish Council objects on traffic grounds. The report says most objections are about how the restaurant is used, which is not part of this application. The recommendation is to grant.

Two houses, The Skip Field, Old London Road, Upper Harbledown (CA/23/00811). Ten people wrote in support of replacing the skip yard. Officers still recommend refusal, because the site is in open countryside outside any village boundary.

Porch, Linksfield, Invicta Road, Whitstable (CA/26/01300). A householder porch. The recommendation is to grant.

Thursday 15 October: companies advisory committee

This committee checks on the companies the council owns. Its agenda has the annual health reports for three of them:

  • Canenco, which collects bins, cleans streets and maintains the council’s grounds, including the award-winning city cemetery
  • PartnershipOne
  • Stour Environmental Credit Ltd

The Canenco report says the company returned £40,000 to the council at the end of 2025/26, and its auditors found nothing casting doubt on it as a going concern. The council set it up in 2021 to take over the waste and grounds contracts from Serco. Councillors note the reports; nothing is decided.

Next week

The Joint Transportation Board meets on Tuesday 20 October and full council on Thursday 22 October. Neither agenda had been published when we checked on 10 October.

What it means for you

  • To speak at the planning committee, register with Democratic Services by 12.30pm on Monday 12 October, online or on 01227 862009. Speakers get three minutes, just before their item.
  • To speak at the companies committee, give notice by 12.30pm on Wednesday 14 October.
  • To watch, turn up at the Guildhall. Meetings are open to the public unless the committee votes to exclude them for a confidential item.

Sources