Canterbury planning news

Planning Eight Bells Canterbury: Plan to Turn Pub Into a Shop Refused Canterbury City Council has refused to let the Eight Bells on London Road become a shop. 318 people objected, and an offer to keep it as a pub was turned down. 7 November 2026 · 3 min read Planning Hersden Padel Centre Approved With Five Covered Courts Five covered padel courts and a clubhouse can be built at the former driving test centre on Island Road, Hersden. Play is allowed from 7am to 10pm every day. 7 November 2026 · 2 min read Planning Christ Church Gate Holiday Let Approved Above Cathedral Arch The rooms above Christ Church Gate, the 500-year-old entrance to Canterbury Cathedral, can become a one-bedroom holiday let, approved on 27 October. 3 November 2026 · 5 min read Planning Pilgrims Hospice Canterbury Rebuild Approved: 12-Bed Unit Pilgrims Hospices can rebuild its London Road hospice with a new 12-bed inpatient unit. The council approved it on 2 November after 76 letters of support. 3 November 2026 · 5 min read Planning Hall Place Harbledown: 30 Homes Approved, None Affordable Hall Place on the Harbledown bypass will become 26 flats and four houses, none of them affordable. Approved on 27 October despite a highways objection. 3 November 2026 · 4 min read Planning Howletts Elephant House Approved for UK's Largest Herd Howletts can build a new elephant house for its 12 elephants. The council approved the 59m by 45m building on 14 October with no objections. What is planned. 27 October 2026 · 4 min read Planning Westgate One Student Block Keeps 43 Extra Rooms Westgate One on St Peter's Street had permission for 143 student rooms and was built with 186. The council granted retrospective permission on 9 October. 27 October 2026 · 4 min read Planning Sturry Road Student Block Refused Against Officers' Advice Councillors refused 402 student rooms on the old Invicta Motors site in Sturry Road on 13 October. Retirement flats by Canterbury West were approved. 27 October 2026 · 5 min read Planning Shelford Data Centre Approved, With a 20m³ Daily Water Cap The AI data centre at Shelford landfill has planning permission, issued 15 October, with a 20 cubic metre daily water cap and strict noise limits. 17 October 2026 · 5 min read Canterbury Canterbury Ice Rink Approved at the Riverside, Opening 2027 A 30m by 8m ice rink and marquee at the Riverside, Kingsmead Road, was approved on 3 November for every winter to 2031. Opening is planned for 2027. 10 October 2026 · 3 min read Whitstable Whitstable's Old Prezzo to Reopen as Jimmy Beez Restaurant Plans would reopen the empty former Prezzo in the listed Bear and Key, 1-3 High Street, Whitstable, as a restaurant called Jimmy Beez. Comments by 13 November. 10 October 2026 · 3 min read Council Canterbury Council This Week: Data Centre, 402 Student Rooms 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. 10 October 2026 · 4 min read Council finance Sturry Road Bus Lane Gets £1m: Canterbury Levy Plan Approved Approved 5 October: Canterbury's first strategic levy spend, £1.82m across six projects, £1m of it for a longer Sturry Road bus lane. Cabinet voted 7-0. 1 October 2026 · 6 min read Planning Eight Bells Canterbury: Plan to Turn the Pub Into a Shop The London Road pub, shut since its landlady retired in 2025, could become a shop. Comments on the change of use close on Friday 9 October 2026. 27 September 2026 · 3 min read Planning Canterbury Neighbourhood Plans: Only Bridge Has One One adopted, two waiting on an examiner, three stalled and one abandoned: the record behind Canterbury's new neighbourhood planning toolkit. 22 September 2026 · 6 min read Council finance Canterbury Community Infrastructure Levy: £3.37m Unspent Canterbury City Council's own accounts show it has never spent the infrastructure share of its building levy. The pot reached £3,370,289 by March 2026. 22 September 2026 · 5 min read Planning Hoath 21 Homes and Bridge 9 Homes Recommended for Approval Officers back 21 homes at Hoath despite 32 objections, and 9 at Bridge with no affordable homes, because the council has no five-year housing supply. 15 September 2026 · 5 min read Canterbury Five New Canterbury Blue Plaques Approved: Who Gets One Canterbury approved five blue plaques on 1 and 3 September: a rebel whose head went on the Westgate, a medieval financier, the home of the Canterbury Scene. 12 September 2026 · 5 min read Planning Whitstable Lidl Plan Draws 91 Objections, Decision 20 Oct Lidl wants a 2,184 sq m store and 127 parking spaces on protected open space off Thanet Way. Its own figures say Aldi loses most, not the town centre. 27 August 2026 · 8 min read Whitstable Toby Carvery Signs Approved at Long Reach Tavern, Whitstable Canterbury granted seven Toby Carvery signs at the Thanet Way restaurant on 6 August. The register shows no change of use was needed, and nobody objected. 27 August 2026 · 3 min read