Plans have been lodged for the final stage of construction at a controversial 250-home estate.

Redrow has already built more than 80 properties at Hoplands Park in Hersden, near Canterbury, with the cheapest marketed at £385,000.

The firm has now lodged early proposals with Canterbury City Council for the last phase of the project, which is not set to be completed until 2025 at the earliest.

The £95 million scheme has been stalled over the years by legal challenges mounted by campaigners from the A28 Environmental Crisis Group. But the bids – which made their way to the High Court and Court of Appeal – proved unsuccessful.

Now, developers say the estate is improving the area.

Redrow sales manager Louis Roach said: “It is quickly becoming a buzzing community and has attracted a diverse range of buyers moving from within the South East.”

Meanwhile developer Mark Quinn, who gained planning permission for the site before Redrow took on the housebuilding contract, said: “The development has already brought up the area.

“It’s a thriving village now and everyone’s house prices there have gone up significantly – more than they would have done.

“Our part of the site will hopefully be done by 2025.”

Mr Quinn is adding an apprenticeship centre run by Canterbury College to the plot, as well as a nursery, Co-op and business park.

Four hundred jobs are expected to be created.

The nursery will be occupied by the oversubscribed Hersden Under-5s Project, which currently cares for 22 children in a “Portakabin-style” building in Shaftesbury Road. The move will increase its capacity to 36.

Meanwhile, the apprenticeship centre is expected to cater for more than 300 pupils, studying courses ranging from construction certifications to full civil engineering apprenticeships.

Papers also show more than 30 acres of land will be kept as open space, including a village green.