A Kent village is trying to put a lid on new housing expansion by creating its own neighbourhood plan with legal clout to resist “over-development”.

Bridge Parish Council believes the maximum number of new homes it should accommodate over the next 15 years is just 40 – despite Canterbury City Council earmarking the village for 168.

The parish council is working with a landowner and a developer to try to secure ownership of the village’s recreation ground to protect it from development, while also securing £250,000 towards a new village hall.

Chairman Alan Atkinson believes the neighbourhood plan will give Bridge a vital say over future housing schemes in the parish.

“There is a clear need to protect the character of the village and its attractive surrounding countryside,” he said.

“The most attractive area to large-scale developers is almost certainly the recreation ground.

“This is presently privately owned and was leased to the parish council under a long-term lease which recently expired.

“It was temporarily extended pending approval of the neighbourhood plan.”

But Cllr Atkinson warns that if residents do not approve the plan, future sizeable housing developments on the recreation ground “could become a serious possibility” and the village will have no role in final decisions on such applications, even if residents and the parish council object.

A leaflet now distributed by the parish council across the village says: “Stretched district council finances will encourage a continuing reliance on major private developers to build new houses, through likely faster planning procedures.

“Canterbury city continues to expand southwards, despite local concerns over such large-scale projects as Mountfield Park, and multiple developments have already been announced for neighbouring villages including Littlebourne and Adisham.

“This will ensure residents will have a real say in determining these important issues over the years up to 2037...”

“Local expressions of opposition may be noted but planning legislation leaves final decision-making on such matters exclusively to district councils, except where a village invests time and effort in compiling and approving its own neighbourhood plan.”

Bridge Parish Council has produced a detailed neighbourhood plan, which has been the subject of district council examination and local consultation and now requires approval by the village in a referendum.

Once approved, it will sit alongside the district council’s Local Plan under planning legislation, when future planning applications are considered and final decisions affecting the village are made.

“This will ensure that Bridge residents will have a real say in determining these important issues over the years of the Plan up to 2037,” said Cllr Atkinson.

He believes Bridge’s neighbourhood plan will be the first in the district to go to the vote when the city council holds a referendum of villagers, expected in late February or early March.