A council is set to build two tower blocks in a town despite neighbours’ claims the area has already been “crammed full with properties”.

Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) lodged plans on December 20 for two tower blocks totalling 107 homes at the site of the former Kent County Library in Maidstone.

The 16-storey “eyesore” was demolished in 2022, with the surrounding area earmarked for hundreds of properties.

The 500-home Weston Homes Springfield Park development is nearby, as well as the 295-home Redrow development The Mill at Springfield, which is on the site of the former Whatman’s paper mill.

The new application will see two new buildings join the county town’s skyline - one with up to six storeys built in tiers of differing heights, and another of up to 10.

The taller of the two buildings “contains a total of 72 apartments of one, two and three bedrooms all with balconies,” MBC says in planning documents.

The smaller building will contain the remaining 35 apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms, all of which will also have balconies, the authority adds.

A new 68-space underground car park accessed just off Sandling Road will be built for residents of the new blocks.

Boasting of the plans’ eco-credentials the council writes: “All dwellings on site will be ‘gas free’ and supply energy efficiently through a low-carbon heating source which is communal air source heat pumps.”

Ali Ernaz, who lives in nearby Waterhouse Avenue, wrote in the public comments on the planning portal: “I support the application and its contribution to increasing the availability of housing in the area.”

However, not everyone is happy about the towering new blocks, with some writing to MBC to slate the plans after they were made publicly accessible.

“This is a joke right?” queried Lisa Lomas of nearby Foxglove Rise.

“We've had over 500 apartments built on the Springfield site already,” she wrote.

“Yes it was waste ground, but a 17-storey tower block, with several other blocks all meeting up with the Whatman site which has also been crammed full with properties?

“To get into town in the morning and evening it can take half an hour or more, that's on a good day,” she continued.

“This little area here simply cannot cope with any more housing.

“Turning that entire area into parking for the already built properties would make much more sense.”

Expressing similar sentiments, Jessica Bailey wrote: “This area is already overcrowded with flats.”

Jacqueline Campbell said: “Ringlestone is now overshadowed by high-rise developments meaning our gardens are overlooked and our privacy is being invaded.

“The wildlife in Ringlestone has been severely impacted by the amount of high-rises that have been given permission in recent years.”

She continued: “The number of wild birds that now visit our garden has decreased dramatically.

“The main bird we have visiting our garden now is the feral pigeon – something that was once only common in large cities like London.

“What is needed is houses with gardens to encourage wildlife back, not more high-rises and car parks.

“There are already too many people in the area for the local GPs, schools, dentist and hospitals – I know this as I work for the NHS” she added.

It is not yet known when MBC’s planning committee will decide on the application, but an internal deadline of April 11 has been set.