Almost 600 homes and a primary school are to be built on the banks of the River Thames.

Planners at Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) approved Keepmoat’s ambitious project last night, which will be in Northfleet but form part of the wider Ebbsfleet Garden City (EGC) development.

Earmarked for land known as Northfleet East, it will feature 598 properties, including family homes and apartments, a waterfront promenade, children’s park, retail space, community facilities and a primary school.

The scheme includes improvements to the prominent WT Henley building, which has fallen into disrepair, and pays tribute to the former Rosherville Pleasure Gardens, which was a Victorian leisure destination and featured a live bear in a pit.

Residents can expect a circular open space built above the buried pit and it may also include a bear statue.

As for the homes, 149 will be starter homes, 38 will be for affordable rent and 37 will be shared ownership, making up almost 40% of the development.

“The development will allow people on average salaries to get their foot on the property ladder through affordable homes and shared ownership and also provide great family homes,” said an EDC spokesman.

“This is a high-quality development that will not only command great views of the River Thames but also open up the river with a new promenade, allowing people to walk along and see it from the area for the first time in a century.”

Despite its distance from the rest of the garden city, new walking and cycling routes will give people easy access to the rest of the area and Ebbsfleet International Station.

Major work is also due at neighbouring Northfleet West, where 532 homes and an employment space hosting up 1600 new jobs will be built.

Keepmoat regional managing director Roland Grant, said: “The Northfleet site is a landmark development for Keepmoat and represents the largest and most significant award in the area since we expanded the business into London and the South East.

“This is an important milestone in ensuring this scheme becomes a reality, and the acquisition and development of Northfleet will meet the clear demand in the region.

“It makes an important contribution to the continued delivery of the EGC project and we are also pleased to be working with EDC in fulfilling both their vision and meeting their targets for the creation of this new and exciting garden city.”

Last week EDC revealed that more than 700 homes have now been built in the garden city.

Ebbsfleet Green has a restaurant and a pub, with a hotel coming soon, and Castle Hill has the garden city’s first primary school, Cherry Orchard Primary Academy.