Plans have been officially submitted to knock down a former secondary school and turn it into more than 100 new homes.

The now vacant St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School site in Ordnance Street, Chatham has been earmarked for 139 “bespoke” properties.

A planning application has now been submitted to Medway Council by developers Eutopia Homes.

The company first announced an intention for the project back in March.

St John Fisher school went on the market last year after pupils relocated to a brand new £40 million single campus in City Way, Rochester in February 2022.

Initially built as a private dwelling in 1901, the building has had several extensions and additions since the school was founded in 1964.

This included a sports hall, dining hall, science, art and drama block, plus a newer two-storey teaching block built in the 1990s.

Ordnance Street saw teenagers from Year 9 to 13 attend as its main campus, while those in Year 7 and 8 were taught at a campus known as the Lower School in Maidstone Road.

Among its former students are ballroom dancer and television presenter James Jordan, and retired footballer Jimmy Corbett, who played for Gillingham, Blackburn Rovers, Portsmouth and Southend United.

However, Eutopia, who owns the proposed land, is now proposing to build 77 houses and 62 apartments on the brownfield site.

A proportion of the properties on the 2.4-hectare plot are also intended to be affordable housing.

Of the 139 homes, 20 are to have four bedrooms and 37 properties will be three bedrooms in size.

A further 51 homes will have two bedrooms with the remaining 31 being in the form of a one-bedroom apartment.

A total of 70 car parking and 282 cycling spaces would also form the development.

If approved, the project would involve the demolition of all the existing buildings at the site and the construction of new homes in the form of terraced housing and apartment blocks.

Information released on Eutopia's website says it hopes to “design a new, high-quality and sustainable residential neighbourhood with good access to Chatham town centre”.

It also hopes to “give a vacant previous educational site an attractive new identity” with a “bespoke design”.

Further information noted: “[They] will contribute towards delivering housing targets, whilst providing high-quality design which respond positively to the surrounding context.

“The proposed development will provide a high standard of accommodation for future residents.

"These will be bespoke properties rather than standard house types offered by many volume housebuilders.

"The proposed layout is based around a main street running through the centre of the site, [which] will extend southwards from an entrance on Charles Street.

"The central street will include two, three and four-bedroom terraced houses with private gardens at least seven-metres long.

"The proposed houses are grouped into two distinct terraces.”

Meanwhile, a secondary, and independent, loop street is also planned at the north-eastern corner of the plot.

Developers plan to build two separate apartment blocks three and four-storeys tall running along the edge of Charles Street and Ordnance Street as the corner turns.

These will feature two rows of three-bedroom terraced houses, with gardens positioned back-to-back.

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

The development would also create a play area, communal garden and woodland area.