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Controversial plans for a new estate on the edge of a village could swamp healthcare provision at several doctors' surgeries.
That is according to health bosses at NHS Kent and Medway, who say a proposed new development could overwhelm nearby services in Bethersden.
It comes after developer Esquire resubmitted outline plans to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) for 32 properties on a 10-acre greenfield land plot off Bull Lane.
Previously, the Longfield-based company put forward an application for 40 homes on the same plot in the village near Ashford in August.
However, after concerns about issues such as traffic and flooding, the company has since reduced the number of planned homes by eight.
NHS Kent and Medway, the integrated care board (ICB) which plans and buys healthcare services across the county, says even the resubmitted plans are likely to have a "direct impact" on healthcare in the area.
As a result, it is asking Esquire to mitigate the extra pressure through a financial contribution of almost £30,000 - to fund “additional capacity” in GP provision and “other healthcare premises”.
Commenting on an outline application submitted to the local authority, Kimberley Collins, project manager of NHS Kent and Medway, said: "This proposal will generate approximately 77 new patient registrations in general practice.
"The proposed development falls within the current practice boundaries of Ivy Court Surgery, Woodchurch Surgery and Headcorn Surgery.
"It will also increase demand for other healthcare services provided to the local population.
"There is currently limited capacity within existing healthcare premises to accommodate growth in this area.
"The need from this development, along with other new developments, will therefore need to be met through the creation of additional capacity in general practice and other healthcare premises."
The organisation adds the plans "will have a direct impact which will require mitigation through the payment of an appropriate financial contribution".
A figure of £27,648 has been earmarked for the S106 funding - a sum the NHS says could change in the future - for the estate off the A28 Ashford Road.
If approved, the project would comprise a mix of one-bedroom to five-bedroom properties, including affordable housing.
The plans also include about 80 car parking spaces on the site, which is not allocated for housing in ABC’s current Local Plan.
But residents are concerned with the effects of the planned housebuilding in comments submitted to ABC via its public consultation for the scheme.
Dawn Walker wrote: "This proposed development on a greenfield site on the edge of the village is inappropriate and incompatible with the character of the landscape and rural setting of the village.
"It is also surrounded by hedgerows, mature trees and orchards to the east.
"This would be a complete blot on the landscape.
"Any further homes being built in Bethersden will only cause a further build-up of traffic onto the A28 and surrounding roads.
"This proposed development could generate a further 100-plus vehicles on the road."
Meanwhile, long-term neighbour David Latham added: "I have lived at the same address in Bethersden for over 35 years in an original Kent-pegged tiled cottage in close proximity to the proposed development site.
"Vehicles speed along Bull Lane and whizz around the narrow blind bend like a race track, often causing me to jump back or hurry to the other side if I'm part-way across.
"[There is] too much new building in Bethersden. It is losing its identity as a village."
Environmental group, the Weald of Kent Protection Society, has also raised fears about traffic, declaring: "Bethersden is a difficult and dangerous enough village to drive through and around as it is.”
Yet documents submitted with the application acknowledge the plans would help house-seekers.
Application papers say: "The local council’s planning policy [is] requiring more housing of this type for the current, as well as projected, demand for housing around Bethersden and Ashford in the near future.
"The intention of the development is to create an integrated and well-designed community which contributes positively to the housing and land supply mix in the local area whilst delivering a suitable and, above all, sympathetic addition to Bethersden."
The development is planned for a plot directly behind Shepherd Neame's The Bull Inn pub.
The 17th-century village inn shut suddenly for two months in May after the previous landlords decided not to renew their tenancy, describing the boozer as “just not viable for us”.
It has since been leased by The Elm Pub Group, with Stacy Reid taking the reins as general manager.
Mr Reid previously told KentOnline how the new homes could benefit the eatery - which dates back to 1645 and was temporarily used as a training centre by the Home Guard during the Second World War.
"We’re the very first pub on the stretch of road between Ashford and Tenterden,” he said.
“So although the potential development is unrelated to us, I think it would very much help the pub and we’d certainly welcome it.”
Esquire has been approached for further comment.