A bid to secure Manston as an airport could run the risk of thousands more homes being built in Thanet, councillors have been warned.

Thanet council has published its latest version of its Local Plan and it includes a proposal to designate Manston for some kind of aviation use.

Under a previous version of the plan, put forward by the then Ukip-run council but rejected, Manston was earmarked for housing and business development.

While that remains an option in the new plan, the council has now added a second option which would effectively allow for Manston to be retained for aviation use.

It means more time for the consortium River Oak Partnership (ROP) to pursue its Development Consent Order and re-open Manston as a cargo hub airport. A DCO is a means of enforcing the owners of a site to relinquish if it is deemed to be a nationally significant project.

Conservative council leader Cllr Bob Bayford said: “The priority has been to put before cabinet a Local Plan which recognises the existing use of Manston as an airport and which also provides an opportunity for the Development Consent Order application to proceed.”

While that will be welcomed by airport campaigners, it would come at a price because hundreds more houses would have to be built on other sites in Thanet - on top of the number already in the plan.

And the council’s own planning officers have warned the proposal runs the risk of falling foul of its own assessment that Manston as an airport was not commercially viable.

They say the proposal to safeguard Manston “carries a higher risk of being found not sound” and goes against the advice from government that the Local Plan should not be delayed by the DCO.

They also warn that if the DCO does not proceed, the site “ may be available for housing in addition to the site identified under this option.”

The additional homes already earmarked to account for retaining Manston for aviation would see 600 more homes Birchington; 1000 in Westgate on Sea; 500 in Westwood; 300 in Hartsdown, Margate and 100 in Minster.

These figures could rise even further, according to the council’s own officers.

“There remains a risk Thanet could experience higher housing development during the period of the plan then was previously anticipated,” a report detailing the plan states.

The local plan is a key document which sets out the council’s policies for housing development and economic regeneration up until 2031.

It envisages a target of about 17,000 homes over the period but that could rise still further under the government’s plans to ensure more affordable homes.

The council is already under pressure from the government for its failure to adopt the Local Plan. It was one of 15 authorities identified by the government as ones that were at risk of losing control over its own strategy and could still be the subject of intervention.

Former Ukip council leader Chris Wells said: “It is now very clear that the residents in Thanet are being asked to support councillors intent on taking huge risks with the unnecessary destruction of green fields, particularly in Westgate, Birchington, and Minster. This in support of a local Plan based on a potential DCO, looking increasingly like a long odds bet.”

Meanwhile the current owners of Manston - Stone Hill Park - have recently lodged a planning application for a mixed-use scheme, including up to 3,700 homes, a hi-tech manufacturing park, aviation heritage attractions, a new country park and leisure facilities, including Kent’s first Olympic sized pool.

The draft plan will be considered by the council’s cabinet next month.

River Oak Partnership is expected to resubmit an application for a DCO after withdrawing its initial application following discussions with officials from the planning inspectorate.