A bid has been launched to build 65 homes on a derelict former gas works site.

The six-acre plot in St Peter’s, Broadstairs, is partly contaminated following years of use in the gas industry.

But developers are willing to fork out £1.25m to decontaminate the land, if given the green light to transform it into a new housing development.

The project, proposed by The Mockett Trust Ltd, would comprise 65 homes including 20 “affordable” properties along with a new “ecological area and public open space” featuring a pond.

Planning documents say: “The scheme incorporates several culs-de-sac containing a mix of two, three and four-bedroom detached, semi-detached and terraced houses.

“Some will have garages and others will have parking within communal areas.”

A number of flats have also since been added to the plans.

The Northdown Road site was originally part of an agricultural field, but was developed for the production of coal gas between the 1920s and the 1950s.

It was then used as a gas holder site until gas production finished in the mid-1990s.

The land now sits vacant, but contaminated by its previous use.

It has been partly decontaminated - or “remediated” - but requires further work to allow it to be used for housing.

It was earmarked for housing in Thanet District Council’s 2020 draft local plan, but was not included in the adopted local plan due to concerns the expense of decontaminating the site would make it unviable for development. But if the new homes bid is approved, The Mockett Trust Ltd “would, at significant expense, remove the remainder of the contamination within the ground and treat the ground water so that the site would be safe for both new residents and neighbours”.

In 2016, The Mockett Trust Ltd sought permission to build 140 homes, a 70-unit sheltered housing scheme, a Scout hut and recreational facilities on a plot including the old gas works site and neighbouring farmland.

The bid was refused and later rejected on appeal, because it included land within the so-called “green wedge”.

But developers say the fresh proposal addresses this criticism “by focusing only on that part of the site which is not affected by the green wedge and is within the identified urban area”.

"A unique opportunity to provide for the costly remediation of this contaminated site..."

The Mockett Trust Ltd is a consortium of some members of the Mockett family, which has a long association with St Peter’s, having lived there since the mid-1500s.

The Trust owns the majority of the site except three parcels owned by Southern Gas Networks (SGN), which endorses the development.

The plans have been met with backlash from some quarters.

The Broadstairs Society has objected to the proposal, citing concerns it will cause “recreational pressure on coastal SSSIs including Sandwich Bay [and] traffic increase in an already peak times congested locality”.

Broadstairs Town Council says it is also planning to recommend refusal of the scheme due to concerns over “overdevelopment with severe impact on the life of residents and passing traffic”.

Meanwhile two residents who have lived in St Peter’s for 28 years also raised concerns over the proposed scheme’s impact on the environment, traffic, and local community.

But a spokesman for The Mockett Trust Ltd stressed the project is significantly smaller than the one put forward in 2016, and says it has gained support from consulted authorities.

In planning documents, architects Colwyn Foulkes Limited say the development “presents a unique opportunity to provide for the costly remediation of this contaminated site, whilst delivering family homes”.

Commenting on TDC’s planning website, a KCC Highways consultee says the development “is unlikely to have a severe impact” on peak traffic, but that the developer must address concerns regarding access, layout and parking.

Visit TDC’s planning website to comment.