The former Manston airport site will be earmarked for houses and business development in a new version of a planning blueprint for Thanet.

The council intends to designate the site as suitable for mixed development, in a move that will dismay those who want to see it re-open as an airport.

The site’s redesignation is a key element of the latest version of the council’s draft local plan, which sets out a strategy for the area’s development to 2031.

The new version of the plan - which will go out for consultation from this Friday - details how 9,300 more homes are needed to meet the estimated target for 17,140 houses in the area, 30% of which will be affordable housing.

The current version accounts for 7,800 homes, well short of what the council says is an independently assessed target.

As a result, the authority is to allocate two additional areas for houses but these are not yet public.

Deputy leader of the council Cllr Lin Fairbrass said people are right to be concerned about housing "in their back garden but allocated develops can take years to go up".

"What people really I don't think understand is that it's the land owner that puts land forward for development and the council has to do tests on the land.

"Some plots won't be sustainable so won't be included in the plan.

"If we don't look at land put forward to use the inspector would ask why we haven't."

The council has also revealed plans for road improvements it says will help ease congestion under what has been termed an “inner circuit” scheme. More details will become public at the end of the week when a formal consultation will get underway.

On the subject of infrastructure Cllr Fairbrass said: "Residents also worry about pressure on our services which is a difficult one because we don't have control over that."

She revealed services will be consulting later this year to see what additional infrastructure they will need to put in place.

There is also a plan for a new location for the planned Thanet Parkway station.

The council underlined that it was basing its position on Manston on its recent report by independent consultants that concluded that an airport would not be commercially viable.

That is unlikely to deter those fighting to re-open the airport and its fate is likely to be centre stage in the statutory public inquiry that will place the plan under scrutiny.

There will be a series of public meetings to discuss the draft plan and residents can also have their say via the council's website consult.thanet.gov.uk from Friday.

It will be subject to a full public inquiry before being ratified by the government.