Fresh plans are being put in motion to breathe new life into the site of a now demolished shopping complex.

New designs have finally been submitted for the former Trafalgar Centre and multi-storey car park in Chatham High Street.

An outline planning application for 175 flats, co-working and office spaces, and arts studios for the site was given the green light in September 2022 with matters such as the layout and design of the buildings needing to be approved at a later date.

Now proposals have been submitted on behalf of Terance Butler Real Estate Developments Ltd which reduce the number of flats to 135 and show how the development might actually look.

The Trafalgar Centre first opened in the 1960s for a supermarket, and then was taken over by In Shops in 1990 with a fast-food court, café, independent shops and crèche.

It closed in 2013 when the company went into liquidation and sat unused for the best part of a decade until the building was demolished in December 2022.

The new plans, submitted on August 28, would see the site turned into three blocks of 135 flats.

There would also be nearly 4000 square feet of offices and co-working spaces, nearly 2000 square feet of creative arts studios, and pedestrianised areas which would lead through from Whittaker Street to the High Street.

The development will also provide 152 car parking spaces, planters and public seating in green spaces.

The reduction in the number of flats from an initial 175 to 135 is because the new plans reduce the height of two of the blocks.

The design also separates the development into three blocks which the developers say will mean a phased construction.

The first block, which is directly on the High Street, will have 37 studio, one and two-bed apartments and office space over six floors including the ground floor.

The Whittaker Street block will have 50 apartments over five floors, though the original outline application approved in 2022 allows for up to nine floors.

The Rhode Street block will have four floors for car parking and four for 48 one and two-bed apartments.

The outline planning approval gave the applicants up to three years to put in plans for this next stage, otherwise the permission would have lapsed.

The original application was approved before the creation of the Chatham Centre Design Code, however the applicants say much of the design is in line with the code as it was being developed at the time.

However, the applicants say the application was passed before the code was implemented so the High Street block, which now exceeds the allowed heights under the introduced rules, should be allowed.

The application is currently being considered by planning officers with an internal decision deadline of November 27.

Terance Butler Holdings, an Aylesford-based developer, bought the site for £2.87million in 2020.

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Plans may go to Medway Council’s planning committee if officers decide the development is substantial enough to require councillor sign-off, or there is a large number of objections from residents.