It is full steam ahead for plans to build Kent’s largest Waitrose in Maidstone.

Eclipse Park owners Gallagher Properties lodged a full application for the high-end supermarket next to junction 7 of the M20 – behind the Next superstore – last week.

The proposal for the £14 million store and 300-bay car park on the former park and ride site was exclusively revealed by the Kent Messenger in January, with Gallagher Group chief executive Nick Yandle optimistic the development would encounter limited opposition.

Since then public consultation has been held and the company has met Boxley Parish Council and Maidstone Borough Council.

Leaflets were delivered to 5,300 homes and 120 people visited the two-day exhibition, with 145 feedback forms returned and 27 people objecting.

Traffic has been the main concern, but Mr Yandle is confident the impact on roads will be minimal.

Four people voiced their disappointment at the removal of the park and ride.

The application for the supermarket, which could create 200 jobs, comes weeks after the conditions of outline planning permission for a second hotel at the Bearsted Road estate were met.

Regulations included traffic changes and landscaping, and an operator is yet to be found for the 150-bedroom facility.

The final pieces of the jigsaw for Eclipse Park are three office blocks, the planning permission for which has now expired.

Tenants were not forthcoming and Gallagher Group is considering splitting one of the buildings into smaller units to suit current business trends.

If planning permission is granted for Waitrose, building work will get fully under way next year with an opening date set for April 2018, although Mr Yandle said that could be pushed forward if required.

He said: “It’s a clean site, all the infrastructure is already in place and there’s no highways work to do. Shoppers can come straight off the motorway and they are already there.”

He added bus stops will be placed either side of Bearsted Road by the main entrance, while there are plans for a separate route through the site once further development gets under way at neighbouring Kent Medical Campus.

The full application can be viewed here with a decision due from August.

For more information go to www.waitrosemaidstone.co.uk