A council has doubled down after a major residential developer claimed it could no longer afford money promised to help a community. Gillcrest Homes this month told Canterbury City Council (CCC) its £60k contribution pledge – made in return for converting 24 flats in the city - was now “unaffordable”. But the authority clapped back this week warning it would pursue the Rochester developer for the cash “as per the legal agreement” it entered.
In 2019, Gillcrest agreed to shell out the section 106 money to the city council when it green-lit plans to transform the former tannery in Stour Street into homes. The funding is given to provide facilities to a community following a development in the area. But the property developer recently launched a bid to have the amount slashed to little over £1k, telling the authority costs had spiralled to £9.
25 million - more than £385,000 per home. In response, a city council spokesman told KentOnline: "The application submitted by Gillcrest Homes to vary the legal agreement relating to its development in Stour Street is invalid. "An application to vary a legal agreement cannot be made within five years of the agreement being signed and we are still within this time period.
"On that basis, we will therefore be pursuing the contributions required of the developer towards pedestrian and open space improvements as per the legal agreement we have in place." The developer, which completed the project in 2021 and currently rents out un.
