MORE than 15,000 homes will be built on green field sites around Ashford as part of the Government’s plans for growth in the area, it has emerged.

County planners have confirmed that around three-quarters of the new homes expected to be built between now and 2026 will end up on green field land.

Kent County Council has endorsed a series of recommendations setting out the number of new homes it expects to be built across different parts of the county and where they will have to go.

The recommendations, backed by KCC’s Conervative cabinet, will now be referred to the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) for a final decision. It will have the final say on the housing targets and the contents of the South East Plan, a wide-ranging blueprint for the region’s development until 2026.

In addition to house-building targets, the plan sets out polices on the environment, transport and the economy.

Ashford council leader Cllr Paul Clokie said the number of homes to be built on green corresponded with the figures expected.

Ashford would be transformed by the scale of the development outlined in the plan and while the impact on green field land would be significant, the Government had given assurances over investment in vital infrastructure.

"We have always known that the only way of increasing the number of houses built in the area would take up a considerable amount of green field land [but] we would not have done so without considerable investment in infrastructure," he said.

KCC’s cabinet member for regneration, Cllr Graham Gibbons, said it was vital estates built in Ashford did not repeat past mistakes and that the town attracted "good quality jobs" if it it was to reap the benefit.

"There are certain estates in Ashford and other parts of Kent where I would want to see things done better. We must have all the infrastructure in place and it is vital we get good quality jobs," he said.