LONG-AWAITED proposals for a controversial road-rail freight interchange have been formally submitted.

Kent International Gateway Limited is seeking permission to build a depot on 112 hectares of the North Downs stretching between Bearsted and Junction 8 of the M20, at Hollingbourne, near Maidstone.

It would include railway sidings and eight huge warehouses with a total floorspace of 362,375 sq metres, along with a business park with offices covering a further 11,371 sq metres.

Maidstone council’s senior planning officer Rob Jarman said that the volume of paperwork accompanying the application was one of the largest ever received by the council but that even more detail is being requested.

Maidstone council is insisting that the height of the proposed warehouses is revealed before it will accept the submissions as a valid.

The company is seeking outline permission only at this stage but has set out in detail how the site will be accessed.

The plans have changed from those originally shown at a public exhibition held by the company earlier this year and now show two major routes into the site, both from the A20 Ashford Road.

There is no access off the roundabout at junction eight of the M20, as previously suggested.

Mr Jarman said that access was certain to be a major factor under consideration but the council would primarily be guided by the opinion of KCC’s highways officers.

Kent Interantional Gateway is seeking permission to operate the site 24 hours per day, seven days a week, and predicts that it will give employment to 500 office staff and 3,000 staff in the industrial operation.

Alison Broom, the council’s director of operations, promised that the council would conduct a thorough public consultation as soon as the application is validated.

Letter will be sent to thousands of homes in Bearsted and Hollingbourne. The consultation will also include consultations with the eight parish councils most closely involved and with protest groups such as StopKIG.

There will also be extensive consultations with organisations such as SEEDA, SEERA, KCC, the Highways Agency, Natural England and English Heritage.

The views of rail company Southeastern could be crucial as it is not clear at present whether the railine has sufficient spare capacity to fulfil the applicant’s ambitious proposals.

Mrs Broom said: "Once the application has been validated, we will want to hear from the public and we will be urging everyone to write or e-mail us with their views."