A private medical provider is moving forward with plans for a major development in Maidstone.

Kent Medical Campus Ltd (KMC) has applied to build a spine road connecting Newnham Court Way and its 50 acre site.

The 283m route has been approved in principle and will be built next to Newnham Court Shopping Village, with a bridge over a stream and two ponds which have been dug to tackle drainage issues.

If given the green light, it will mark a substantial move forward in the project to bring additional clinics, consultation rooms, a rehabilitation centre, education and training facilities, laboratories, shops and more than 100 homes for staff and patients.

It is now down to companies to lodge applications for individual plots of the 98,000 sq m site, already home to Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery.

Maidstone Borough Council is expected to make a decision in the next few weeks and building could begin early next year.

Vinters Valley Park Trust is among those to voice concerns, saying it is resigned to a future in which the 36-hectare (89 acres) Vinters Valley Local Nature Reserve is surrounded by development.

Trust chairman Vic Davies asked for guarantees from the council and developers that costs of clearing up pollution are covered.

The application for the road can be seen here. New roads and car parks also form part of the plans which can be viewed here.