By Hayley Robinson

The new owners of the Sittingbourne paper mill have revealed plans for a £95 million makeover of the site.

London-based property consultants Essential Land, which paid £5.65m to Finnish paper company M-Real for the Milton Road premises, want to create 250 homes, complete with a food store centre and a retail park, subject to planning consent.

The owners have already received interest from various high street retailers.

A spokesman said: "The food store centre, subject to council and local support, could comprise a supermarket or smaller store and other niche outlets, and this will be firmed up following consultation with the council and local community regarding appropriate uses and occupiers."

Demolition has started at the site with the planning process anticipated to take up to 18 months.

While there are no listed buildings on the site, concerns have been raised by the Kent Historic Buildings Committee about historic building being "wiped out."

Essential Land says it realises the mill is an important piece of town history and has commissioned a historian to document the demolition and produce a photographic record.

A spokesman said: "We intend to use these, along with other historical information in our proposals for the site, ideally through some form of museum.

"We also recognise the importance of the railway line and are currently in negotiations with the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway (SKLR), in an effort to provide them with an opportunity to re-open this tourist attraction to the public and celebrate its 40th anniversary in public service. We can confirm no demolition is taking place on the viaduct, only removal of asbestos around the station."

An investigation will begin to assess the extent of the contamination on the site.

A Swale council spokesman said: "The council has had preliminary informal discussions with the landowner about a mixed use development. It is normal for us to speak to landowners ahead of them submitting plans."