Worried residents fear being trapped in their homes as further plans are approved to turn a former power station into a storage and distribution centre for a major online retailer.

The next phase in the redevelopment of Littlebrook Power station was approved at Dartford council's development control board meeting held yesterday.

Planning consent was granted to investors Tritax Big Box for the £205m redevelopment of the site into a four-storey warehouse to be built on a 45 acre plot of land near the Dartford Crossing.

Tritax already has agreements in place with major online retailer Amazon which is believed to be the frontrunner to take over the site designated as a critical "last journey" location inside the M25.

The E-commerce giant has seen a spike in demand for services during the covid-19 pandemic as all but essential retail was closed down for three months.

Tritax chief executive Colin Godfrey believes the venture provides an excellent opportunity as consumers increasingly shop online.

He said: “Working with our partner Bericote, the development of the site will not only deliver much sought-after high specification logistics space for London, but will also bring enhanced local infrastructure and significant employment opportunities to the local area, strengthening its economic growth.”

It represents the second part of the brownfield site's transformation into new distribution centres near the Dartford Crossing with the first stage having already been given the green light.

As part of the second phase the company also sought permission for an access road via Rennie Drive, loading facilities and parking facilities for cars and HGVS.

But residents living near the existing Bridge development and busy orbital motorway say they continue to endure a "traffic nightmare".

This was acknowledged by the council's joint transportation board which noted congestion was already at "beyond breaking point" and suffers from severe problems when there are incidents on the A282, dubbed "the road to hell" on the approach to the Dartford Tunnel.

In total, 107 objections were received to the application.

Dartford resident Bradley Thomas, who lives nearby the proposed development told the planning meeting residents "will feel trapped in" if the current plans go ahead.

"At the best of times getting out of the development is hard"

"At the best of times getting out of the development is hard," he said, adding it can take anywhere between six to seven hours to get home on bad days.

"By adding more pressure I feel it will have an adverse affect."

Mr Thomas went on to say residents were not against the redevelopment of the site and even welcomed investment of this kind in the area.

However, he stressed there was an urgent need for a rethink on the impact excess HGVs and the current plans for road access and bus turning points might have on the existing infrastructure.

It comes after a four year campaign to save the 215m chimney at Littlebrook – which was the second highest in the UK – before it was demolished in December along with the rest of the site.

Tony Mack, from Longfield, had even threatened to chain himself to it to stop the demolition.

He suggested at the time it would make a perfect home for concerts, running tracks, indoor football, a skateboard park, and heritage and history exhibitions.

And while his pleas failed to materialise it was acknowledged at yesterday's planning meeting that Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite had made clear redevelopment of the site must be in the best interests of residents to proceed.

Project developer for the applicant Bericote, Simon Spencer sought to give assurances on this basis.

He spoke of how the project would breathe new life into the area by transforming a former "fossil burning" power plant into a "zero emissions" business which provides up to 2,000 new jobs at a vital time.

Mr Spencer also said they would be encouraging new ways of travel by providing two shuttle buses free of charge to employees, cycle parking and a scheme linked to encourage use of existing bus provider Fastrack.

Highways England had submitted concerns regarding the existing use of the slip road on the A282, near the Dartford Crossing which means traffic is unable merge smoothly without delay and causing excess traffic.

It added that as the application will add to the existing situation specific mitigation should be provided.

The developer agreed to upgrade the layout of this slip road and to fund the cost of these works estimated at £250,000, separate to a further £2.3m contribution towards improvements for the busy junction 1a, near Bob Dunn Way.

Kent County Council has put together a working group with Dartford council and Highways England to try and tackle the problems facing the roads on the approach to the Crossing.

A representative at the meeting expressed grave concerns about continuing to allow developments to offer "little improvements" in order to pass planning conditions, adding it would not "solve the issue" in the long term.

They said there was a need to "take a step back and look at this holistically" before offering up piecemeal suggestions.

"It is not just this development," they said. "We are as keen as anyone to get this solved. We are pushing this as hard as we can from our side."

But Greenhithe and Knockhall Cllr David Mote (Con) adopted a different take on matters and said they should look at the bigger picture.

He believes any investment towards measures aimed at improving congestion would be welcome, adding "we need to take that money and throw it in".

"I'm sorry if I'm barking up the wrong tree and being naive but that is the way I see it."

Councillors voted eight in favour of the proposals with one abstention due to technical difficulties.

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