Fresh details for a wetland accompanying a new housing estate on the outskirts of a town have been revealed.

Quinn Estates put on an exhibition for its vision for a 180-home development at Willesborough Lees in Ashford called Kingsland Green.

Members of the public turned out to view the updated and more detailed plans at a public consultation exhibition at the Conningbrook Hotel, Kennington on Tuesday.

An accompanying application will be to create a wetland north of the estate. Both schemes are expected to be submitted to Ashford Borough Council later this month.

Ben Geering, Quinn Estates’ development director, told KentOnline after the showing: “There will be two applications for a wetland and up to 180 new homes.

“We have received helpful feedback that we will embed into the final applications and are grateful to local residents for their input.

“The wetland is needed to mop up excess nutrients before they enter the River Stour and can form part of the countywide plan to mitigate nutrient neutrality.

“It’s been a good opportunity to expand and inform on the benefits of the wetland with local residents.”

Kingsland Green will be an expansion of the existing urban area and will consist of two three, four and five-bedroomed houses. Fifty-four of the homes would be affordable.

The aim is to have a range of homes from spacious family ones to small starter dwellings.

There would be landscaped green spaces and the wetland park will have walking trails.

A major change compared with the previous plan revealed in March is that the homes are reduced from 200 and the development is no longer called The Nurseries

The wetland is for an area at high risk of flooding while the homes would be built on low-risk land.

The wetland would use plant life to cleanse water and protect biodiversity by removing nutrients and pollutants through natural biological processes before entering the river on the site adjacent to the Ashford Waterwater Treatment Works.

Quinn Estates says wetlands are seen as the “kidneys of the earth”, purifying water through its natural interaction with soils and plants.

Constructed wetlands are becoming an increasingly popular means of surface water and wastewater disposal, thanks to their low operational cost and the benefit they offer to the environment.

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Information panels were displayed and Quinn Estates representatives were available for residents to talk to at the exhibition.

Paul Hudson, of Romsey Close, Willesborough Lees, said: “I'm not for it. I'm concerned about whether the houses fit in with the current style of properties.

“It seems to be an overdevelopment: do we need another housing development? This seems to be in quite a small area.'

His wife Linda worried about resulting traffic levels, saying: “Ashford is already very gridlocked.”

Neil Guy of neighbouring Abbey Way, said: “I'm undecided. It could mean improvement to the footpaths we use but traffic is a massive concern.

“There are 20 more houses being built on Abbey Way and another 700 or so on the Redrow development.

“If there's a snarl up on the M20 you can't move around Ashford. But if they need new houses I get that.”

Robin Cornish, also of Abbey Way, said: “This is not going to link to my estate which is good because there is enough traffic.

“But it will add to traffic in general in the area."

Developer Redrow is building 725 homes at Conningbrook Park nearby on the estate known locally as Large Burton.

Hundreds of new homes have already been built nearby with the first phase of Conningbrook Lakes, featuring 300 homes, almost complete.

Plans for phase two including another 170 homes have been put forward by Brett Aggregates.

Meanwhile, the first phase of the Crown Hill View development in Kennington, featuring 288 homes, has started.

Outline permission for another 437 as part of phase two has been approved, but full plans are yet to be submitted.