Full planning application for first phase of 800-home development at East Hill off North Dane Way in Lordswood submitted
Published: 17:33, 07 February 2023
Updated: 18:23, 07 February 2023
Details of the first phase of a controversial development of hundreds of homes have been revealed.
The land at East Hill, off North Dane Way, Lordswood, is due to host 800 new homes after a planning inspector granted an appeal by developers last year.
The site is next to Capstone Farm Country Park, which known as Medway's "green lung".
The landowners, FD Attwood and Partners, together with Taylor Wimpey, have submitted plans for the first phase of 91 homes to Medway Council.
At the end of last year, the developers announced how they intended to carry out the development in six stages and how original plans for a GP surgery on the site had been dropped.
Under the proposals, there would be a new primary school, community facilities, play areas and retail units.
The first phase of homes are to the south of the site and would be accessed from a new roundabout in North Dane Way.
A quarter of the homes in the first phase, 23, would be affordable – either affordable rent or shared ownership.
There would be a mix of homes of two, three, four and five bedrooms.
The plans are due to be decided on by Monday, May 1, and residents can now submit their views on them via the council's website.
Returning his appeal decision last year, planning inspector Daniel Hartley concluded there was "demonstrable" need for the proposal to address "very significant shortfall" in housing in the Medway Towns.
The ruling came despite councillors' unanimous refusal of the original application.
The application initially attracted more than 900 letters of objection.
The same developers are pursuing plans to build 450 homes at Gibraltar Farm, an area south of the East Hill site.
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Katie May Nelson, local democracy reporter