A timeline for a proposed new school and sprawling new-build estate has been revealed as council bosses grapple with housing targets.

Land between Thornden Wood Road and the Old Thanet Way in Herne Bay is being eyed up by Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council as a potential site for a new secondary school alongside 150 homes.

Designed by Lee Evans Partnership, housing would be built to the east of the site – neighbouring Greenhill – with a new access road from Thornden Wood Road.

A six-form entry secondary school would see 1,200 pupils attend the new facility once fully established.

Council officers say: “Land to the West of Thornden Wood Road presents an opportunity to deliver a new secondary for Herne Bay and the coastal area.

“There is currently an imbalance in the location of secondary school provision across the district, with many pupils from the coastal area travelling to schools in Canterbury.

“There are limited sites of sufficient size in the coastal area to provide a new secondary school.

“This site presents an opportunity to deliver a new secondary school for the local area, to allow pupils to attend a school near to where they live.”

A community centre, sports pitches, shopping facilities and open space could also be incorporated into any designs – which will be unveiled later this year.

The Thornden Wood Road school would be utilised alongside plans for another school in Whitstable at Bodkin Farm, with hopes both schemes could together tackle the lack of school places for pupils in coastal areas.

Following the completion of consultation events, CGIs and the masterplan will be developed in the summer before an outline planning application for the Herne Bay development is submitted to the local authority in autumn this year.

Those papers will reveal more details about the makeup of the estate and what exactly will be included, with some elements of the current scheme already facing the axe before the bid goes in.

One example of this offered by the firm is the potential use of land for allotments, with this only remaining in the long run if the demand is there for such a project.

Reserved matters submissions would be put in for mid-2026, with it too early to offer a completion date.

No developer is in line to take over the scheme should it get planning permission, though Lee Evans bosses confirmed it has a list of preferred contacts who would be considered for the job.

Allocated as site HB4 on Canterbury City Council’s new draft local plan, it forms one of seven “urban” residential or commercial development sites in the seaside town.

The council document was put forward for consultation in March as the Labour-Lib Dem coalition looks to shake up proposals put forward by the previous Conservative administration.

Feedback can be given back to the council here, with the deadline for consultations closing on June 3.

In early 2025, CCC will publish the final draft Local Plan and residents will be able to make further comments before the plan is submitted to be examined by the planning inspector.