A race track owner is calling for a creek he likens to a “dump” to be cleaned up ahead of future redevelopment in the area.

Gerry Lilley wants to see an end to what he claims is “pollution” being pumped into Milton Creek which has led to reports of a notorious smell wafting into Sittingbourne.

The Bayford Meadows Kart Circuit owner, who was born within a hundred metres of the creek, says he used to swim in it when he was growing up but would not “dream of entering the water” now.

He has drawn up plans which he says will see the area restored to how it was during the 1940s when it was partly maintained by Perry Winkel Mill which sat on a freshwater stream.

The Borden resident said: “Back then watercress was grown at Perry Winkel and there were flood gates which held back the water from the paper mill before being released to down the creek.

“Down at the dockside men would then rake the settlement so it would flush down through the creek.

“But since the closure of the paper mill and dockside, the creek has become heavily silted and is now up to a metre in depth.

“This is made worse by the pollution from the sewer works being discharged into the creek on a rising tide.”

This has led to the creation of a notorious smell up the creek.

Mr Lilley now thinks Southern Water should build a new pipeline from its water treatment plant in Gas Road up to near the Swale Way bridge.

The 85-year-old sees the potential development at Lloyd’s Wharf – which sits behind Sittingbourne Retail Park and where some 187 new homes split across four flat blocks could be built – as an opportunity to clean up the creek.

Meanwhile, the Raybel Charters group, which currently calls the Wharf home and works out of the Dolphin Museum, also wants to redevelop a separate area of the waterside into a heritage site next to the estate.

The businessman, who has a background in civil engineering, claims “sewage” is currently being pumped straight out into The Swale.

He has drawn up plans for a new tidal gate to stop waste from being pulled back into the creek with tides and would also like to see trees planted on the river banks.

However, one potential obstacle is that The Swale is a shellfish area which is the Environment Agency’s prerogative.

But Mr Lilley argues that the pollution issues must be sorted out to get rid of the smell while turning the area into a community asset.

He told KentOnline: “I remember swimming in the creek when I was a child but now it is a dump.

“Why would you want to be having a cup of coffee or live in the new house if you’re looking out to that eyesore and having to live with the smell?

“I am anxious to get something done about this creek and would be happy to be one of the people to drive it forward.

“I propose that the sewage outfall is moved upstream so that pollution is put straight into the Swale rather than into the creek so that the freshwater keeps it clean.

“It seems crazy to me that there’s a sewage outfall 15 metres away from a freshwater stream.

“Why should all this water come up the creek when over on the Isle of Sheppey they discharge the water straight into the sea and it washes away?

“Here we’ve got several miles of it and there it is just laid down and so ought to be discharged closer to the sea.

“At the head of the creek, there was a pair of floodgates and they were used purposely for this reason.

“These should be rebuilt as well. It would cost hundreds of thousands but the funding could be sourced from developers, national lottery funding or from the people of Sittingbourne.”

Southern Water has been approached for comment.