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Plans to build a housing estate on farmland will be the subject of a public inquiry after the applicants issued an appeal.
A fruit farming company had wanted to build 1,250 homes on orchards off Pump Lane in Rainham but were turned down in June last year.
Apple and pear growers AC Goatham and Son subsequently lodged an appeal and people were asked to make representations to the planning inspectorate.
A public inquiry will be held online by an inspector instructed by the Secretary of State between Monday, February 15 and Thursday, February 18.
Interested people are taking part via communication platform MS Teams and the proceedings will be streamed on the Planning Inspectorate's YouTube page.
A decision is expected to be posted several weeks afterwards.
The former application included a primary school, a 60-bed extra care facility, an 80-bed care home and a village hall.
Before the plans were turned down by Medway Council's planning committee, the plans attracted over 1,000 signatures on an online petition and over 3,300 comments on the council's planning portal.
Protests took place across Rainham, Gillingham and in Hoo at AC Goatham and Son's headquarters.
Windows across the Medway Towns were plastered with "Save our Orchards".
Kate Belmonte is a member of the Pump Lane Steering Group, from which three members will be making representations at the inquiry.
The Medway Green Party press officer, who is also a member of the local branch's co-ordinator group said: "We will be covering how the land looks, the history of the land and the impact of the land that will be lost.
"Rainham is at threat of being lost, it won't be a small town anymore.
"The land itself is being ripped up and the whole of Lower Rainham is at risk due to increasing height of the sea."
Rainham councillors Martin Potter and Kirstine Carr have been among those campaigning against the plans.
In a joint statement, they said: "Everyone's efforts helped to further raise awareness and led to the largest number of consultation responses a housing development has received in the history of Medway Council.
"Medway Council have also been really supportive and they are standing firmly behind their refusal working closely with us and the community with regard to the appeal.
'Rainham is at threat of being lost, it won't be a small town anymore...'
"The council is very clear, as are we, that the orchards and Lower Rainham farmland do not need to be built on to meet the housing need in the emerging local plan and they are putting everything into fighting this appeal.
"Either way, this will be one of the most significant decisions to impact Rainham in a generation and we truly believe we have both a strong planning and moral case which should rightfully win the day."
AC Goatham & Son declined to comment.
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