The town council will continue to defend Faversham from unwanted development, despite the announcement this week that the house-building target should be 776 homes a year.

The figure, over 200 more than originally planned, was the finding of planning inspector Sue Turner, who has told Swale Borough Council it must increase its proposed level of 540 per year.

Council officers set out to defend its homes total during eight days of hearings spread between November and December, but failed to convince her.

The interim report, published on Friday, says the council is in a position to “sensitively nudge the housing target upwards across the borough so that growth continues to be focused on the Thames Gateway area (Sittingbourne and Sheppey), but with proportional boost to allocations in Faversham and the rural areas”.

This “proportional boost” has been welcomed by mayor of Faversham Nigel Kay, who says the news could have been “far worse” for the town.

He said: “It is clear Swale council officers have done a good job to keep the number of houses that Faversham will have to take down as far as is practicable.

“Despite pressure from national government to build more and more homes, Swale has worked hard to keep the total of houses that will be built far less than the developers wanted to see. The different treatment of Faversham, which is outside of the Thames Gateway, and other parts of Swale has been upheld.

“There are still likely to be applications come forward which the people of Faversham do not like and the town council will no doubt continue to object to them and try to defend the town from all unwanted development.” - Mayor Nigel Kay

“There are still likely to be applications come forward which the people of Faversham do not like and the town council will no doubt continue to object to them and try to defend the town from all unwanted development.”

Mrs Turner said the council had shown there were sufficient sites available to build 13,000 homes between 2014/15 and 2031, concluding the council should therefore allocate sites to meet a revised target of 776 per year.

Cllr Gerry Lewin, cabinet member for planning at the council, said: “Throughout this part of the examination in public, we presented the case for 540 dwellings per year. It is therefore disappointing that the housing target has been increased and our concerns about the deliverability remain.

“But we have no choice but to plan for the new target.

“Some comfort can be gained from knowing that the inspector did not accept the arguments put to her by others that the target should have been in the region of 900-1,200 dwellings per year.

“The approach we are taking to housing distribution has been found to be sound, so we can now work towards identifying suitable sites to meet this higher target.

“This will not be easy – suitable brownfield sites have already been allocated, and new targets will inevitably mean that additional green field sites will need to be considered.”

The Labour group leader on Swale, Cllr Roger Truelove, said council officers had faced an impossible task to defend the 540 figure, particularly as the council’s own independent report suggested demand would dictate more than 700 homes a year were required.

He warned: “Since the inspector rejects the idea of this shortfall being disproportionately assigned to Faversham, sites in Sittingbourne and Sheppey will come into the reckoning.

“This may mean Bartons Hill Drive, in Minster, and Cryalls Lane, in Sittingbourne.

“Our fear is that more site allocations will not mean more houses but an enhanced opportunity for developers to pick the most viable sites.

“In these circumstances, the enormous North West Sittingbourne proposal is certain to go ahead and possibly even increase in density.”

There will be a six-week public consultation on modifications to the plan during the summer and any responses to the consultation will be sent to the inspector before she issues her final report.