A country park offering space for concerts could be built as part of a new 300-home development near the Ashford Designer Outlet.

Bosses at Quinn Estates hope to build four apartment blocks on land at the junction of Romney Marsh Road and Norman Road next to the shopping centre.

As part of the scheme, they plan to give up a 30-acre site next to Asda which could be turned into a country park and used by Ashford Borough Council (ABC) for concerts and outdoor events.

The parkland would form part of a section 106 agreement, which is an arrangement made between local authorities and developers that can be attached to any planning permission to offset the impact of a development.

Quinn Estates chairman Mark Quinn said: “We’re looking at doing an apartment-led scheme and some flood alleviation works, which will benefit the site and our neighbours.

“We also own some land next to Asda which we could give away for a new country park.

“It could be used for outdoor events as a piece of green infrastructure, like Mote Park is used for concerts in Maidstone.

“It would open up the land and improve the flood situation.”

If approved, the residential application - dubbed East Stour Park - will see 90 one-bedroom and 210 two-bed flats built, including affordable homes.

The apartments would vary in size, with buildings ranging from 10 storeys to four.

Preliminary designs include parking spaces on the buildings’ ground floor and communal rooftop terraces for tenants.

The project’s existence came to light after Quinn Estates lodged a screening opinion document, which marks the first step of the planning application process.

It is an application asking the council whether or not any future planning application needs to include an environmental impact assessment.

Mr Quinn added: “It will be a very nice, sustainable apartment-led scheme.

“There is the Designer Outlet on the doorstep and the train station is only a few minutes walk down the road.

“We will look to put in a planning application before the end of the year.”

The site earmarked for 300 apartments forms part of the designated green corridor in Ashford, and falls in a flood zone.

A new slip road is proposed, as well as an exit point for motorists leaving the site.

The country park land next to Asda is not included in the screening opinion document, but Mr Quinn says the plot could feature a car park and play area alongside the green space.

Quinn Estates also owns another plot of land at the Romney Marsh Road and Norman Road junction, but no plans have yet been set for the spot.

Elsewhere in Ashford, Quinn Estates is behind the Commercial Quarter development at Dover Place, as well as the Riverside Park development on the former Powergen site.

The company is also working on a 750-home Conningbrook Park proposal in Kennington, dubbed Large Burton.

It is proposing a primary school and sport pitches alongside the homes on the Willesborough Road site.

To view the East Stour Park screening opinion document, visit www.ashford.gov.uk and search for the 18/00005/EIA/AS application.