Hundreds of homes have been dropped from a controversial garden village plan to make space for a recycling centre.

An amended outline planning application for the Highsted Park development, which could be built on land to the south and east of Sittingbourne near Teynham, has slashed the number of dwellings pencilled in for the site to 7,150 in response to concerns raised by Kent County Council (KCC).

In 2021 Quinn Estates submitted plans to Swale council for the phased development of up to 578.65 hectares of land comprising of up to 8,000 homes.

These included sheltered and extra care accommodation alongside commercial, business and service/employment floorspace.

There were also plans for a mixed-use local centre and neighbourhood facilities as well as primary and secondary schools.

Plans for open green space, woodland, and sports provision were also submitted, along with highways and infrastructure works including the provision of a new motorway junction to the M2 and the long sought-after Southern Relief Road, which would reduce traffic flow problems across the area, and new vehicular access points to the existing network.

Last month these proposals were amended, after the plans were reviewed in conjunction with the Swale Planning Team following consultation responses from key stakeholders and site visits.

A spokesman for the developer said in its amendment: “KCC assessed that a new household waste recycling centre would be required to support both the new development as well as the existing community at Sittingbourne.

“As such, it was a requirement to find a suitable, accessible location within the development area.”

As well as adding a new tip to the proposals, the location of the new secondary and primary school campus has been reconsidered.

The spokesman explained: “The campuses were originally located adjacent to the M2 in Highsted Village.

“It was considered this would be compromised by road noise. The school site area provision was reviewed and the school capacity was evaluated.

“From this, it was established that a greater site area was needed for the secondary school and the primary schools.”

The outcome of the assessment impacted on the proposed overall capacity of the development, resulting in the number of homes being reduced from 8,000 to 7,150.

Despite this, not everyone in the area is happy about the amended plans.

Sarah Dutton, of Woodstock Road near Tunstall, commented on the application: “When driving around Sittingbourne at the moment you spend your time at a standstill.

“The roads cannot cope with the sheer traffic. It's impossible to get a doctor's appointment due to how busy the surgeries are.

“You often can't get parked at the supermarket and if you have the bad fortune to end up at Medway hospital, you'll likely wait for hours to see anyone, and if you're admitted, will likely end up in a corridor.

“This area is overrun already, more houses will destroy Sittingbourne.

“Woodstock Road is so busy kids can't cross the road to get to the park. The road will be gridlocked with more houses in the area.”

Conservative councillor for Teynham and Lynsted, Julien Speed, said that he is yet to examine all the revised documents of the “eye-wateringly massive application”.

He continued: “The provision of a recycling centre in the Southern scheme looks attractive, but who would operate it? KCC has already attempted to close four of these centres in order to save £1.4m next year.

“Whilst these plans were shelved, KCC has still earmarked £1m of savings for recycling in 2025/2026 - so I very much doubt they’ll want to take on an additional household waste site.

“Residents are also concerned about heritage impacts, water supply and drainage , as well as the closure of important countryside gaps which could result in Teynham and Bapchild becoming one big suburb of Sittingbourne.”

Quinn Estates was contacted for comment.

A spokesman for Swale council said: “We have received an amended application for the Highsted Park estate, which will be considered on its own merits.”

Find out about planning applications that affect you at the Public Notice Portal.

For full details on the Highsted Park plans enter 21/503914/EIOUT into the planning portal.