A large estate is set to swell to 400 houses after a 70-home extension and community hall plan was approved.

Hybrid planning permission for up to 330 homes at Faversham Lakes, on the site of a former gravel works, was granted in 2017.

The latest proposals have now also been given the thumbs up amid opponents saying the area needs “affordable housing, not four or five-bedroom mansions”.

Initial details of the estate - as well as the accompanying country park - were approved in tranches in 2019, 2021 and 2022.

However, in June 2023 the Anderson Group submitted a full planning application for the extension to Swale Borough Council (SBC) for ‘phase three’ of the development.

The scheme was approved by council planning officers on May 17.

“The site is broadly triangular in shape and will be crossed from north to south by the Heritage Greenway, a traffic-free link which will connect the Heritage Hub at the heart of Faversham Lakes to the existing community to the south,” the developer wrote in its planning documents.

It explains the new part of the estate will be accessible from Ham Road and Bethell Road.

The 70-home addition will maintain the “contemporary appearance that defines Faversham Lakes as a high-quality extension of the existing built-up area on the north side of the town,” Anderson said.

A community centre and new children’s play park will also be included in the development.

However, not everyone is enthused about the new facilities.

Dean Ogden wrote to SBC’s planning department saying he was “in favour of this resource” but then complained: “It will draw in kids from the wider area, increasing anti-social behaviour that is already seen on the development.

“So access would need to be time controlled, which would need segregation and a warden.

“Who will fund repairs as it is inevitably vandalised?”

Jacqueline Chart commented on the council’s planning portal about traffic concerns, saying: “It was my understanding that access to Phase 3 would be via Ham Road only.

“Bethell Road is already very busy with cars that speed and we do have parking restrictions which are currently being ignored.

“To have access to Phase 3 will increase traffic further and affect road safety and also make Bethell Road busier than it is.

“A lot of children play on the grass in Bethell Road and with this new planned access to Phase 3 this is going to be a nightmare.”

At the new development, 35% of the homes - 25 of them - will be marketed as “affordable”, the developers have pledged.

Of the new houses, 12 will be one or two-bedroom maisonettes, 12 will be one or two-bedroom houses, 24 will be three-bedroom houses and 22 will be four-bedroom.

However, Marika Sherwood criticised the mix in her response to the SBC planning department.

“What we need is affordable housing, not four or five bedroom mansions,” she said.

“So mainly 1-2 bedroom affordable housing, with a few three-bedrooms. All should have solar panels.”