A public consultation on plans to build a new multi-purpose stadium at the heart of a new waterfront neighbourhood has been extended.

Proposals for a new 8,000-seater stadium for Ebbsfleet United in Stonebridge Road, Northfleet were due to have their last day of public consultation yesterday (September 26) but people now have until October 4 to have their say, exactly a year after the club teamed up with property partners to put forward a wider blueprint for Northfleet Harbourside.

The stadium for the National League South side will form the heart of a shopping and leisure development planned for a brownfield site of about 50 acres.

The Northfleet Harbourside development will also include up to 3,500 homes and a new retail area consisting of 225,000sq ft of shops, cafés, medical services and community venues as well as a 200-bed hotel and 180,000 sq ft of office space

The initial build phase for the stadium creation would see the club ground-share away from home for the first two years with additional phases taking place over an eight-year timespan.

Construction of the stadium is expected to last 93 weeks from September 2024 until August 2026.

A second phase, consisting of the surrounding Harbourside development is then scheduled to start in March 2028 and last until September 2031.

Developers say the redevelopment, which is expected to cost £40m, will provide a boost to the local economy with up 3,000 new jobs in the retail, leisure and service sectors, including apprenticeships during construction and end use employment opportunities.

The proposed development would almost double the capacity of the existing football ground, known commercially as the Kuflink Stadium, which currently seats 4,769.

If given the green light, constructionis anticipated to last just under two years – 93 weeks – between September 2024 and August 2026.

To have your say click on the link here.

Of the additional 3,500 homes being proposed as part of this Harbourside scheme, 30% is expected to be designated as "affordable housing".

The plans hit a stumbling block in January when they were contested by Historic England on the grounds that archaeological remains had been found on the site.

The public body, which looks after and encourages the preservation of the country’s heritage assets, has notified Gravesham council of its concerns over what they believed was a lack of any obvious plan to deal with the remains properly.

According to Historic England, there could be “deeply buried” and “waterlogged” archaeological remains which date back to the lower Palaeolithic period more than 400,000 years ago.

Many of these early prehistoric sites are not designated, it adds, but the importance of them “cannot be overstated” in understanding the history of the area as well as the development of “critical industries” that were the backbone of construction across the UK.

The council is not expected to discuss the plans until December as it awaits further responses from Historic England, KCC’s archaeology team and National Highways.