A Grade II-listed oasthouse left abandoned for more than eight years is to be turned into homes.

The historic building at Coldharbour Farm, outside Wye, will be converted into six two-bed properties after plans were approved by Ashford Borough Council.

The vacant site, which sits beneath Wye Crown and is accessed via Amage Road, had been used as offices since the late 1980s.

Developers KD Attwood & Partners are now going to renovate the oasthouse, and also convert a non-listed timber-clad storage barn into two two-bedroom houses.

The site also hosts a listed office building, which is to be converted into three units of updated office space.

The plans have been waved through by ABC's planning committee.

The early 19th century oasthouse was listed in 1989, and was historically used for kilning hops as part of the process of brewing beer.

Due to the fact two of the buildings are listed, ABC had to hear the application as two separate bids - the full planning permission and the listed building consent.

The listed office building is to be internally separated by three partitions to make it into an updated space.

Some of the oasthouse’s windows will be converted into doors so it can be used as accommodation.

A council conservation officer was satisfied with the changes to the listed buildings, but the developers will be subject to stricter-than-usual controls when renovating.

They will have to provide samples of the materials for the new cladding and roof for approval, details of new joinery, the gutters must be cast iron and aluminium, and the developers can only use approved methods of paint removal.

The development will also include a total of 22 parking spaces - two each for the eight new homes, two visitor spaces, and four spaces for the office building.

At the planning committee meeting, there was some confusion about the nature of the plans for the listed buildings.

Cllr George Sparks (Ashford Independents) told the meeting: “We’re being asked to give an approval for a listed building consent when we haven’t actually seen the alterations they want to make in detail, which is very very difficult.

“To make an assessment on those plans that we’re looking at now is not really the right thing that we should be doing for a listed building consent.”

Council planning officer Mark Berry responded, suggesting that Cllr Sparks should have found out the information prior to the meeting.

“It’s my assumption that members will look at plans in advance of a meeting,” he said.

“If members lack information before they come to the meeting then I would request that they ask for that to be clarified before the meeting."