Hopes that a much sought-after traffic-calming scheme would get the go-ahead without having the costs examined have been dashed.

Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con), the KCC cabinet member with responsibility for highways, said plans to improve Fant Lane and Gatland Avenue, Maidstone, with speed bumps, a new safety island and a reconstructed junction would still have to pass the so-called “Pipkin” process, where the possible benefits and costs of a proposal can be compared with competing schemes.

Cllr Dan Daley (Lib Dem), who joined residents in a street protest demanding action in September, had said he expected the scheme would be approved without having to go through Pipkin, because of a new interest in “localism”.

Localism is a concept that has emerged from the government’s Neighbourhood Agenda policy that says communities should be given more power to determine what is important for them in their own area.

But Cllr Ferrin said: “The fact is there are four times as many projects that people would like to see done as there is money to do them. There has to be some system to allocate priorities, if not Pipkin, some other system – unless someone wants to give me four times the budget.”

Pipkin - Prioritising Investment Programmes for Kent’s Integrated Network - has been criticised by many communities seeking small highways improvements because it is difficult to gain a sufficiently high ranking for schemes unless there has already been a history of serious injury accidents at the spot.

Cllr Ferrin said: “We will be looking to see whether we need to adjust or change Pipkin in any way, but there still has to be some system.

“I think in the case of Fant Road there is an expectation that a scheme would pass the Pipkin process.”

Cllr Ferrin was critical of the concept of “localism”. He said: “It sounds like a good idea, but I don’t think people agree what it is. What is a neighbourhood? Is it a town? Is it a village? Is it perhaps an interest group, like the local golf club?

“It’s a concept that’s being thrown around without any definition.

“At the end of the day, one section of the community is not isolated from another. You must look at the implications for the wider area.

“A road closure might be welcomed in one community, but might have serious adverse effects for the next village down the road.

“I agree that we need to give local councillors more influence than they have at the moment, but allowing 74 members to make spending decisions is simply impractical.”