Objections are flooding in against plans for a new housing estate on prime farmland.

Developer Rydon Homes wants to build 200 homes on a 30-acre site off Nackington Road, Canterbury.

Agents for the company say the area is already earmarked in the Local Plan for housing as part of the 4,000-home Mountfield Park masterplan.

But the wider development is pending fresh determination by the council, after it was forced to quash its original approval following a legal challenge.

Rydon argues the scheme can come forward independently and will have only “limited landscape and visual effects”.

It flags up the economic benefits of the development and says it will be landscaped with considerable tree planting, creating a ‘garden city’ approach, with open space and a play area.

The developer is also proposing to reach an agreement with the city council over measures to mitigate the impact of waste water on the Stodmarsh Lakes, where the discovery of increased pollution is stalling the building of thousands of homes. Other developments in the area affected have proposed on-site sewage treatment works as a solution.

The site is on farmland between Nackington Road and Old Dover Road and is bordered by The Foreland.

But the new proposal has already sparked more than 20 objections, largely over the loss of prime farmland, the impact on wildlife and potential traffic problems the development would cause.

The county council’s own transportation team leader, Ruth Goudie, has also raised highway concerns.

She challenges the applicant’s assertion that transport to the site is sustainable.

“Bus services are bunched up at school arrival and departure times, and infrequent through the middle of the day,” she says in her report.

“The site is described as fully accessible on foot and cycle, and while it is possible to walk and cycle along Nackington Road, it is not pleasant.

"The only footway on the southern side is narrow with overgrown vegetation and the carriageway is narrow with no space to step out onto or to ride a cycle.

“A pedestrian and cycle link to the park and ride site is shown but this is also narrow and heavily overgrown and there has been no offer to improve this.

“I think that it will be difficult to describe this site as sustainable as a stand-alone site.”

Bridge Parish Council is also objecting on the grounds the development encroaches on a designated area of outstanding natural beauty. It also claims the proposed junction onto Nackington Road is unsuitable.

"There is a housing crisis throughout the country but particularly in the Canterbury area..."

Some residents say notifications about the planning application have only been sent to a limited number of homes, when many more will be affected.

Lucy Tyler, who lives in Nackington Road, says communication has been inadequate and only one public notice has been put up – on a gas ventilator pipe by shrubbery, away from the path.

She adds: “It’s a major building application which will affect us all with environmental impact, added weight of traffic on the already congested Nackington Road and Old Dover Road and the loss of extremely valuable grade one agricultural land. And we only have less than a month until June 3 to comment.”

Sigma Planning Services is looking after the application for Rydon Homes.

The firm’s Chris Hough said: “We appreciate the objections raised by local residents.

“However, this site is part of a strategic allocation in the adopted Canterbury City Local Plan for a mixed-use scheme incorporating residential, employment and significant infrastructure improvements for the whole of the city.

“When the site was allocated by the council they took into account the quality of the agricultural land and the traffic issues that would result from the development.

“There are details that need to be worked through with all the relevant stakeholders and this work is in hand.

“There is a housing crisis throughout the country but particularly in the Canterbury area. These houses will provide much-needed homes and in particular affordable homes for our key workers and those who are priced out of the conventional housing market.”

The planning application can be viewed on the city council’s planning portal by searching for application number CA/22/00700.