Ebbsfleet garden city welcomed a special guest this morning as the new housing minister swung by to check on its progress.

Gavin Barwell MP visited the site of the ambitious development to receive updates on the delivery of up to 15,000 homes, as well as a new primary school at Castle Hill.

He also heard about plans for the £12 million bridge linking Springhead Park to Ebbsfleet International, which is set to open in 2019.

“This government is determined to build the homes people need and to help them achieve their ambition of home ownership, and I am confident we can deliver many of them in Ebbsfleet,” said Mr Barwell.

“Ebbsfleet garden city has great potential with its high speed transport links and I was pleased to see today the progress made so far...” - Gavin Barwell

“Ebbsfleet garden city has great potential with its high speed transport links and I was pleased to see today the progress made so far.”

Mr Barwell was shown around by Paul Spooner, the intermin chief executive of the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation.

He said: “The minister saw first-hand the pace of development in the Garden City and the advances that have been made in the last year.

“Our developers are on target for 600 new starts on site this year, 300 of which will be completed.

"The minister could see the speed at which new properties are being delivered in Ebbsfleet garden city.”

Among the sites under development are Ebbsfleet Green, where Redrow are starting on 180 new homes, and Springhead Park, where Countryside will have 123 homes ready to go early next year.