An eyesore town-centre site could be a step closer to being turned into housing after years of waiting.

A detailed planning application for 150 homes at the former Sittingbourne paper mill has been submitted to Swale council.

Abbey Developments, better known as Abbey Homes, the company responsible for some of the new housing at Sonora Fields, is the new landowner.

The mill and water tower, off Mill Way, were demolished in 2012 to make way for a supermarket and new homes.

Permission in principle was granted to former owner Essential Land. Morrisons was built and opened in 2013 but the rest of the plot has remained undeveloped, leaving neighbours, particularly those in Charlotte Street, with unattractive views of mounds of rubble.

Negotiations over a planning agreement between Essential Land and the council held up the housing phase.

It was eventually signed off in November last year. Now Abbey Homes has acquired the land and is pressing ahead with the project.

It wants to build a mix of two- and three-bedroom terraced houses, apartment blocks and affordable housing.

Its website sets out its ambitions, calling the Sittingbourne development Mill Place and saying “Summer 2017” on its “coming soon” page.

The homes have been designed to complement others in the area.

There would also be a strip of landscaped open space, space for parking and a children’s play area.

It is understood the developer would have to make financial contributions of more than £237,000 for primary and secondary school places.

There would also need to be a payout of £10,000 towards CCTV for the underpass between Jubilee Street and Laburnum Place.

Visit swale.gov.uk/search-for-or-comment-on-an-application/ and use the code 17/501894/REM.