Work on a town centre regeneration which has been more than a decade in the making is finally due to start this month.

The first diggers will move on to site in Gravesend to begin The Charter development from March 15.

Market Square car park and Horn Yard will both be closed as work gets under way on the first phase of the masterplan set out by Gravesham council.

New homes will be built on both sites – which were key sites in the development – formerly known as Gravesend Heritage Quarter – which has been beset by false starts and delays.

The council has agreed plans to build 242 new homes through the developement of affordable to rent apartments in the town centre.

Work will be carried out on behalf of Rosherville Property Development, the council's commercial trading arm.

Market Square car park will be closed from March 15 while Horn Yard will shut from March 29.

The Heritage Quarter regeneration project was first proposed more than 15 years ago but progress stalled and the £160 million project was sold on to new developers Reef in 2018.

The company has since been working in partnership with the council and Rosherville Property Development and has already been working on the upgrades to St George's Centre.

A new multi-storey car park is also part of The Charter plans, which were agreed last July amid controversy surrounding the quality of the buildings and them being "out of character" with the existing area.

The development drew criticism as recently as January, when an architect and a university lecturer on planning laws called on the council to reconsider.

Martin McKay said the plans would be a "tragic mistake for the town" due to them dwarfing existing buildings and imposing historic sites.

The regeneration of the historic area of the town, is said to bring a major commercial and leisure development to the rear of St George’s shopping centre.

The proposals are for the homes to be built in three blocks ranging from three to 10 storeys and include details around access and landscaping.

Council leader Cllr John Burden (Lab) said the start of work is a landmark moment as the authority looks to increase the number of new homes.

He said: “It’s exciting that after so many years of discussions and false starts, work is finally getting under way on this, the important first stage of the redevelopment of the town centre.

“The land has been used for car parking since the 1980s but before that is was historically an area of quite intensive housing.

“Rosherville Property Development is wholly owned by the council and as such The Charter has been designed with local people in mind.

“All the flats and apartments will be affordable to rent and so will be attainable for existing council tenants and for those on our housing waiting list.

“What is about to be built now will see homes return to the area – homes fit for the 21st century, that local young people can call their own and where older residents can downsize to, freeing up larger properties in the borough and providing a stimulus to the local housing market.

“Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, our figures showed we had capacity to absorb the lost parking from these areas into our other town centre car parks and a number of spaces will return to the area behind the Borough Market in a multi-storey car park incorporated into the scheme when the development is complete.”

The closest alternative car parks to Market Square and Horn Yard include West Street, St George’s Centre, Rathmore Road and Parrock Street.

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