A property developer has submitted plans to build 60 new homes at a former plant nursery.

Bellway acquired the five-acre site of Harrington's Nursery, in Highlands Hill, Swanley, last June, and has now submitted amendments to its approved plans to include its own house types.

The development, which will be known as Highlands Grange, will comprise 36 two, three and four-bedroom houses for private sale, and 24 affordable homes available for local people through shared ownership or low-cost rent.

The site has an existing paddock, which would be retained to provide a new public open space with wildflower planting and a community orchard.

Tom Sherriff, Managing Director of Bellway Thames Gateway, said: “Highlands Grange is an exciting project for us, which will help to transform a brownfield site, previously occupied by glasshouses and industrial units, into an attractive new residential community.

“The site had previously been identified for housing and there is a clear demand for new homes in the area – as outlined in Sevenoaks District Council’s Housing Strategy earlier this year, which sets out a need for 714 new homes per year in the district.

“We are pleased to be working with the local authority to help meet this need, as part of our wider strategy delivering hundreds of new homes across Kent.

“As well as providing new housing in Swanley, Highlands Grange will also feature a large area of public open space, as well as a number of ecological measures to protect wildlife on the site, including bat and bird boxes, insect hotels, habitat piles and hedgehog highways to fencing."

The site, which is less than two miles from the M20/M25 junction, is within walking distance of both the town centre's shops and Swanley railway station, for direct trains into London.

Subject to planning approval, work will start on the site this Spring.