Developers have called for sites which were omitted from the Island’s housing allocation following public protests to be reinstated under the Local Plan.

Swale council published a draft version of the document in December which sets out a target of 540 new homes per year over the next 17 years, or 13,500 new properties by 2031.

Builders, landowners and agents have responded by saying the figure is lower than the 740 per year put forward by the government’s National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) and they have queried the council’s evidence for calculating housing need in the borough.

They want to see nine sites on Sheppey, previously removed from the Local Plan, including greenfield land at Barton Hill Drive, Minster, and Belgrave Road, Halfway, brought back to meet the higher target and they say the reasons for taking them out were not justified.

Their comments, which represent the majority of feedback in a recent Swale council document called Summary of the Main Issues Arising, also suggest the housing target has not allowed for the potential impact of overspill from areas like Medway and London.

Concerns were raised during previous consultation stages about communities and roads not being able to cope with the planned growth, such as Lower Road which is frequently backed up with traffic at rush hour, but these calls died down after a number of sites were taken out.

Developers and landowners have said there are no significant environmental or infrastructure reasons to prevent the NPPF’s requirements being met.

Alan Bengall, of Parsonage Chase, Minster, who led a campaign against plans for up to 500 homes in Barton Hill Drive under the Local Plan two years ago, called the comments “horrendous”.

He said: “We have far too many homes. It’s like banging your head against a brick wall.

“They are using us as a dumping ground, unfortunately.

“If they were to change the Lower Road to a dual carriageway it might help but I don’t think they will. They just build and build and build.”

A series of public hearings will be held in September to decide if the draft Local Plan is sound in which housing numbers are expected to be a major issue.

Swale council’s cabinet member for housing Cllr John Wright (Con) said: “The developers will say that the NPPF figures are set in stone and will happen and we’ll argue that, actually, as the administration, we would be shot by our electorate for allowing unbridled housing development.

“I think the best quote is from a planning officer who said that the further you go out from the date of the guesstimate of the housing target, the more certain you are it is going to be wrong.”

Many of the developers’ concerns were raised via The Home Builders Federation.

A spokesman for the organisation, which is the voice of the house building industry, said: “Swale has a requirement to ensure that its housing plan accurately addresses the needs of its communities.

“Its assumptions must be based on a properly assessed basis and done in conjunction with its neighbouring areas such that it can provide the right number of homes in the right places across the area.

“The area is already feeling the impact of an undersupply of housing" - spokesman for The Home Builders Federation

“The council’s justification of housing requirement in its new plan does not satisfy the requirement to identify its housing needs over the next twenty years.

“Its numbers are based on past delivery rates which do not necessarily reflect future need.

“The area is already feeling the impact of an undersupply of housing, with house prices and rents high, and a housing waiting list that has grown 70% over the last decade.

“With the area’s population expected to increase it is essential the council has a proper housing plan in place or local people will be increasingly priced-out and unable to find decent housing in the area.”