PLANS to build more than 100,000 homes across Kent over the next two decades will need a massive £10billion injection to pay for new schools, hospitals, roads and other community facilities.

The huge sum is £3billion more than Kent County Council first estimated and is detailed in a stark report identifying where council chiefs believe money will be needed.

The prediction has prompted county council chiefs to set down four key tests they insist must be met before they go along with the Government’s plans.

Although these focus primarily on Ashford and north Kent, the impact will be felt right across the county, says KCC.

In a deliberate echo of the Government’s own key tests for joining the single currency, Kent County Council’s Conservative cabinet says it will not tolerate the expansion in house-building until its own “key tests” have been passed.

The tests are:

* That Kent’s countryside and environment must be protected and enhanced

* That all development must be of the “highest quality”

* That the money needed for infrastructure must be secured first

* That jobs are created to go hand in hand with the new houses

County council leader Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: “It would not be responsible for Kent to embark on the growth plans laid out by the Government without clear guarantees of funding. To achieve these goals, we have set out these key tests and are determined to apply them rigorously.”

He added that he looked forward to a “constructive discussion” with a Government which had itself placed great emphasis on such tests.

A new report to KCC’s Conservative cabinet, called Kent – What Price Growth? says improvements in rail services, roads and motorway links are a priority to kick start the local economy.

Of the £10billion identified in the report, more than £1billion is estimated to be needed in Ashford with more than £7billion in north Kent, or the area known as “Kent Thameside".

While the scale of investment is less in other areas, the figures are daunting.

According to KCC, investment totalling £329million is needed in Swale; £320million in Thanet; £309million in Dover and £309million in Canterbury.