A huge empty building in a town centre could be demolished to make way for flats.

Tetlow King Planning, on behalf of Arpenteur Nightingale Ltd, has submitted plans to Medway Council for 319 flats at the Go Outdoors site in The Brook, Chatham.

Designs would mean the demolition of the Go Outdoors building, which has been empty since the retailer permanently closed the shop in August 2020, and the Market Hall building next door, which is occupied by HomePlus Furniture.

In its place, Arpenteur plans for 319 flats across five blocks of five to seven floors on the 1.11 hectare site, as well as a number of commercial spaces totalling 744 square metres.

There would be 133 one-bedroom flats, 174 with two bedrooms, five with three bedrooms, and six studio flats.

While the application does not provide parking spaces, developers say the adjacent multi-storey car park will be reopened and residents will be able to rent a regular space.

Arpenteur says it has been in discussions with the council over the past 24 months, adapting the proposals to meet the Chatham Town Centre Design Code and the Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Plan, which was approved at a referendum in May. However, the Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Plan Forum says the submitted designs still don’t meet its conditions.

Arpenteur published designs for the site in March and asked the public for their views.

The application submitted to the authority outlines that some of the concerns raised during the consultation included the impact on local services, such as GPs, which are already stretched and more homes would add to that pressure.

Additionally, respondents said developers should not assume residents will not want to own cars and should provide ample parking for them.

However, the proposals were broadly supported by respondents who said redevelopment would improve the environment of Chatham.

The proposals were revised between the consultation and the application being submitted on December 10, reducing the number of flats from 355 to 319.

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The proposal will be considered by Medway Council’s planning department and may go before the authority’s planning committee for councillors to have the final say.