More than 800 letters informing residents that plans to transform the town centre have been submitted, weren’t sent out by Swale council.

The matter came to light late last Wednesday with the paperwork being posted the following afternoon.

As a result, the deadline for people to have their say has been extended from Christmas Eve to January 8.

The Labour group raised concerns last Thursday about the public not engaging with what it described as “the most important development in Sittingbourne for a generation”.

To compensate for the “partial consultation”, its members have delivered nearly 5,000 leaflets to residents in the last two weeks notifying them how to take part in the process.

A statement said: “Areas just to the south of the town have been ignored. Streets like Ufton Lane, William Street, Burley and Rock will have an interest in the housing development at Cockleshell Walk.

“Surely too, the residents in the whole Park Road and Albany Road area should have had official notification, especially with the proposed changes to parking and its impact on Albany Road.

“We also find it very limiting to exclude the residents in the Charlotte Street area down toChalkwell Road.

“It is hard to think they would not have a view, particularly after what has happened on the Essential Land’s development around Morrisons.

“Whatever opinions people have on the plan, it will be embarrassing for the council if very few people respond to this vital development.”

A council spokesman said: “Over 800 neighbour notification letters for this application were mistakenly not sent out when the application was validated, although all statutory notifications were sent out. As a result, the consultation has been extended to allow a full three weeks.

“Head of planning, James Freeman, believes this situation should not give rise to any significant implications in terms of considering the application and among other things this will not affect our ability to fully consider any third party representations which may be received and to deal with the application in a timely manner.

“The applicants and the ward councillors have been fully informed of the situation and implications.

“At this stage, Mr Freeman is investigating the issue as to why this situation arose and to ensure this situation does not happen in the future.”

To see the application in full, visit http://pa.midkent.gov.uk/online-applications/ and search for 14/505440/FULL.