A large housing and commercial development has been given the green light and hailed as a possible “flagship” site for Ashford.

Developers Quadrant initially wanted to put 600 homes on the Eureka Business Park in Kennington for its Trinity Lakes estate but scaled it back to 375.

The 128-acre site, between Trinity Road and Sandyhurst Lane, will also include almost 35,000 sq m of business space.

The land is earmarked for housing and commercial space in Ashford Borough Council’s (ABC) Local Plan.

At a meeting of ABC’s planning committee on March 13, councillors met to decide on the bid.

A planning officer explained to members that as an “outline” planning application, it gives consent for up to 375 homes, with the exact details of layout and design to be decided later.

“Importantly, the development is able to deliver nutrient neutrality,” the officer said.

Problems with nutrient levels in the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve have held up the building of thousands of homes in east Kent - with developers not allowed to proceed until they or the government propose ways of mitigating nutrient levels.

The officer continued to say that the mitigation “includes taking 8.2 hectares of existing arable land out of agricultural production, and that will be set aside as lightly managed grassland to maintain a natural, rural environment”.

Patrick Reedman, director at DHA planning and an agent for the developers, attended the meeting to speak in favour of the plans.

The estate will be a “relatively low density, spacious and very nice living environment,” he said.

“We are in the midst of a housing crisis and in this case housing delivery in the borough means that the presumption does apply,” he said.

This refers to the “presumption” in favour of development - which councils are put into if they consistently fail to deliver enough housing.

Mr Reedman continued: “This means prioritising housing on sites like this. The application presents you with an opportunity to deliver a nutrient-mitigated, policy-compliant level of housing, affordable housing, and employment, which can be approved now.”

It is proposed that 30% of the homes - or 113 - are to be affordable.

The development has been controversial, however, with 74 residents writing letters of objection to ABC’s planning department.

Doreen Titmuss, of Boughton Aluph & Eastwell Parish Council, attended the meeting to speak against the project.

“This application represents the largest development expected within the parish over the next decade,” she said.

“Development at this scale does not come without impact – there are still concerns over the volume of traffic which may be generated.

“Rest assured the parish council will be closely monitoring the increases in traffic and any additional congestion.”

Cllr Charles Ellish, of Kennington Community Council, also criticised the plans at the meeting, saying: “We believe it will not produce a net benefit to the residents of Kennington.

“This site does not appear to be designed with the needs of Kennington in mind beyond national housing targets.”

The maximum height for buildings on the estate is set at 14 metres, but an officer assured members that only the commercial buildings would reach this height.

A Kent County Council highways officer also explained to members that “the developer will be providing a half-hourly bus service and we have secured funding for it for at least a seven-year period”.

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Cllr Ken Mulholland (Con) told the committee: “I welcome this development. It’s quite adventurous in many ways and it’s certainly going to help with the housing numbers.”

Another planning officer told members that because of the nutrient neutrality measures “there’s a good chance this site can be brought forward in a reasonable timeframe”.

He continued: “This is potentially one of our flagship sites in the town.

“It's one of our largest local plan allocations and the ability to bring it forward for a good and high quality of development is really important for the status of the town in my view.”

ABC’s planning committee voted unanimously, with 11 votes in favour to grant outline planning permission for the development.