Hundreds of new homes will be built despite anger over excessive house building.

Medway Council's planning committee backed the creation of 249 new homes in Rainham during a virtual public meeting this week.

More than 100 residents, a Medway MP and several councillors expressed fears over worsening A2 traffic conditions as the town faces more major house builds.

Peel L&P's plans to create 202 homes on a 23-acre greenfield site south of Lower Rainham Road were approved on Wednesday night, alongside two other Rainham housing proposals.

Phil Wilson, Peel L&P's executive director for strategic land and homebuilding, said: “We’ve consulted with local people on our plans which will bring forward around £2.5m of improvements to the area including health and education facilities, which we hope will have a positive impact on the community for many years to come."

But, Strood Cllr Stephen Hubbard (Lab), who voted against the proposal, principally on highways grounds, said: "This is the point where we have gone too far."

In other parts of Rainham, a total of 29 homes will also be built on 1.42 hectares of greenfield land at The Maltings. Redrow Homes Ltd's plan includes 25 houses and four flats.

An additional 18 homes will be created on Rainham's Berengrave Nursery site, in Berengrave Lane. It will form part of Linden Homes' wider plan to build 139 houses there.

More than 150 objection letters were sent to Medway Council concerning the three applications. Opponents included Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti, Medway Council's deputy leader, Cllr Howard Doe (Con) and Sittingbourne councillors representing areas near the A2.

In a letter to Medway Council's planning committee, ward councillor Martin Potter (Con) said: "We are very concerned about additional congestion on the local road network.

"The only route for vehicles to access the wider road network is via the Lower Rainham Road or the A2.

"Both of these routes are already heavily congested and will already be further impacted by approved developments."

But Medway Council's planning committee was told that the local authority had little choice but to accept the three plans due to a shortage of housing land supply in the Towns.

The council's officers said the authority will be punished by the government for failing to deliver 2,000 homes in Medway this year as part of Whitehall's local authority housing targets.

The committee was left divided over the proposals, many councillors wanting to oppose them due to fears of over-development but officers pointed out that their hands were tied to planning legislation.

Cllr Hubbard said: "Because it typically falls at the boundary between Swale and Medway, developers have been getting away with developments on both sides of that border, sort of dividing and ruling us as two different authorities."

But, Medway Council's head of planning, Dave Harris, said the plans would bring much-need "affordable housing" to the area and greater employment opportunities. He added: "If you refuse, you will lose this on appeal."

In response, Cllr Hubbard said: "We live in a new world. We don't live in a world that existed prior to a few weeks ago, so I can see major changes to housing development, housing building and house sales."

Medway Council's planning committee chairman, Cllr Diane Chambers (Con), said she had a "great deal of sympathy" with residents despite backing all three plans during the meeting.

She said: "I support this with a heavy heart because I think Rainham has been subjected to a significant number of planning applications in recent years."

Road improvements in Rainham will be made as part of conditions imposed by Medway Council.

Around £25,000 will be invested towards improvements at the A2 and Mierscourt junction, as part of the Section 106 agreements. A new priority junction will also be made onto Lower Rainham Road.

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