Invite to online events discussing proposals for 1,500 homes, school, cafes and shops on land off Nash Road

The proposed development site

Online events about plans to create 1,500 homes near Westwood will take place this month.

The Humber’s Mill proposal is for a 67-hectare site to the west of Nash Road, close to Westwood Cross Shopping Centre, which is earmarked for housing in Thanet District Council’s adopted Local Plan.

People can learn more about the project, and ask questions about it, by joining online webinars at 6pm on Thursday 20 January or 7pm on Tuesday 25 January. You can sign up for a webinar here.

During the webinar, the project team, including developer Axis Land Partnerships, will outline proposals for Humber’s Mill, which they say will be an attractive and sustainable neighbourhood, sensitively located in the existing landscape, and providing easy, walkable access to local facilities and attractions.

Plans for the site also include a two-form entry primary school, and potentially cafés, shops, cycle paths, and new sports and leisure spaces.

Jon Knight, senior project manager at Axis Land Partnerships, said: “We want our plans for Humber’s Mill to reflect the needs and aspirations of existing residents, and potential new residents, so that the development can deliver maximum benefit to the community.

“At these webinars we are keen to hear from anyone with views about what they already like about the area, what could be improved, and what they would like to see in a new neighbourhood. Community feedback will help shape our proposals for Humber’s Mill as we prepare to submit an outline planning application for the site this year.”

The proposal for Humber’s Mill includes around 22 hectares of green, open space. Features being considered for the new neighbourhood include gardens, adventure playgrounds, walking trails, sports and leisure spaces, and a central village green.

Jon Knight added: “It’s important that Humber’s Mill would also be ‘future-ready’ and well connected. We aim to equip all homes with super-fast broadband, supporting the shift towards homeworking and reducing the need to travel – in line with government and local connectivity goals. Cycle paths and new links to public transport would offer sustainable travel options, while electric vehicle charging points would be available across the site.”

You can view the Humber’s Mill website for more details about the proposed development, or you can get in touch with the project team by emailing [email protected].

45 Comments

  1. I’d like to kindly invite all greedy developers and Thanet District Council to kindly leave Thanet’s farmland alone and, preferably, take a very long walk off Margate Harbour arm.

  2. sadly at the end of the day ,these developers will get thier way and concrete over thanet , and no doubt a few councilors and mp,s will enjoy a very healthy and wealthy retirement.

  3. No to anymore private housing. Social housing is needed in Thanet managed by TDC not a private associationor company! Housing people can afford, to tackle our housing crisis and homelessness! Fed up of seeing housing be erected and our homelessness increasing.

    Additionally, stop building on farmland and start looking a unused areas in Thanet! There’s plenty of spaces not being used and buildings going to waste!

    • Totally agree about the need for social housing. Too many residents find themselves moving every six months as landlords decide that another tenant can pay more rent. I recall several cases where tenants who had looked after rented accommodation were evicted on spurious grounds because the landlord found someone who could pay more. The usual story was, 1) I am selling up. 2) I need it for a family member. Within days that property was available at a higher rent!

      We have families being moved out of area to Medway or Folkestone because Thanet is so desperately short of rentable, affordable accommodation.

      I have never forgotten the family I met who, after six months out of area, were able to move back because they had found a house they could afford. The Mum told me that every day they were away was such a sad one they’d given up hope but those days were over.

    • actually based on 2011 census figures however had the tories between 2003-2009 started the draft LP then the figures would have been based on the 2001 census and been just 12000 houses

  4. There is unused space where Butlins used to be in Cliftonville too. Why not start by taking the land back from these owners who do nothing with their derelict land and build on them first?
    The map above they use is out of date as it doesn’t show the new homes already built and still being built on the land outside the marked area. And the other side of Shottendane Road is still under threat with an appeal going on for that farmland to be developed into unaffordable housing for people on housing waiting lists. This will ultimately close up the final green wedge between Westwood and Margate. The wildlife is being destroyed as it’s pushed further back out of the area. Garden birds here are in decline as less and there are less trees and hedgerows as they are all being ripped up by countless developers making a quick buck on our agricultural land and fields. Never will we see the crops growing again when they are under concrete and tarmac.
    we don’t want or need this cheaply built housing but expensive to buy here in Thanet. We do need previously built on brownfield sites redeveloped though into affordable housing to help cut the waiting lists. That should be the way forward, not this as planned in the Local Plan that was hastily drawn up ignoring the people of Thanet whilst the Councillors only had one thing on their minds. We are paying the price of it now.

      • I think you miss the point. The long delay was created by Bayford who sat on his ar** and did nothing until he was threatened by the Secretary of State to produce a Local Plan which was then rushed through.

        • The LP runs for 20 years in this case 2011-2031 so it should have been in Draft form by 2008 under Ezekiel. In 2015 the Kippers started the process and produced a draft plan by 2017. They lost control in 2018 and only then did Bayford take over

      • It was at the end because they couldn’t make up their minds and Government were called in to make them get it done quickly, thus all this crap that nobody wanted.

  5. My personal comment would be like the developers. Keep your cards close to your chest and save your arguments until the planning or outline planning application is submitted. This development will join up with the “Piper/KCC” application that is planned from Nash Lane through to Manston Road that has been agreed.

    This Axis Land proposal also touches on the Gladman proposed development. (Hartsdown Road through to Shottendane Road and from Shottendane Road through to Manston Road.

    If you take all three developments into consideration the total will be approximately 3,000 properties. Add that to the 2,000 on the Garlinge/Westgate site this will give 5,000 dwellings all on virgin A1 grade farm land.

    • ‘R’ – good post.
      All these developers are trying to do is tick the ‘consultation’ box and trump any likely problems so that when the application goes in to their chums at TDC planning it demonstrates how they have ‘listened and responded to the community’. They don’t really care about the community or anything else other than the ‘bottom line’.
      Later on they’ll haggle over developer contributions and affordable housing, claiming that to offer what’s due would make the scheme unviable; TDC planning officers don’t have the capacity to argue otherwise and will roll over.
      Hold back, give them plenty of rope then hit them with the problems and arguments when the planning application is put out for consultation.
      These proposals and those outlined by ‘R’ illustrate the shameful consequence of the political games that have been played by councillors at TDC over many years, we’ve sold out but it’s still worth a fight.

  6. I assume as the houses will be “future ready” they will not have gas central heating systems installed but will have air source heat pumps included to help them be as low carbon as possible ?

  7. Westwood does not need any more shops, food outlets or schools in the area there is already a school being built on another development off of Nash road how many does one area need for goodness sake? Some at TDC must be doing very nicely out of all this development on our farmland and the idiots in charge need to consider if it’s not beyond them, widening the whole length of Nash Road not just piddly bits here and there, it’s a death trap in the making,and once that road is blocked for what ever reason the whole area comes to a stand still but then the Maidstone morons who have the final say on these things don’t even live in the area,so why should they worry?

    • And what is Sir Rog doing about it absolutely frickin’ nothing, looks after his constituents does our Rog. looks after Thanet the same way he does Herne Bay,I feel a letter to the old boy brewing a no holds barred letter

      • Can they?
        Do you actually know haw much it costs to redevelop one property?
        BTW developers already do this by either converting single dwellings to flats or tearing down older properties and building flats instead thereby increasing urban pressure on existing services

  8. I would like TDC to confirm how the existing infrastructure is suitable for all this development, e.g. roads drainage surface snd sub-surface drainage not to mention the sewerage network. I’m aware developers pay a certain percentage for upgrades however no where near what should be paid. We then have the take over of all roads from the developer to the council with poor shoody workmanship. Then the fact of lack of services in healthcare dentistry and the like. I’m all for progress however developers need to be more accountable for investment, not just to their shareholders snd investors.
    I believe that there needs to be people elected with the practical experiences the industry that can ensure that money is generated and reinvested in the community.

  9. so where is the water going to come from? where is the sewage going to? . and how will we be able to grow food with no green fields left. and of cause the roads will be lovey (not)

    • Water in Thanet mostly comes from the Medway river. Next
      A28 is being rerouted Next
      only sticking point is Manston yet again where KCC want to run a ring road

      • Thanet’s water comes from the aquifer near Manston. This was one of the arguments against the China Gateway development as it was planned to be built on the land adjacent to the aquifer.

    • These questions need to be addressed to the government. They make the policies. They decide how many houses TDC should allow. The Council’s hands are rather tied.
      The situation would not have been so bad if previous UKIP and tory administrations at TDC had messed about with the Local Plan.

  10. I dread to think what it will be like-in 60 years time? Am just turned 52. There will be no such thing as the country side just houses shops flats,roads all bangned up together.

  11. Does this mean more doctors dentist more nurses more health care maybe a bigger hospital less waiting times for operation

  12. Born in thanet and have moved away to a far more prosperous area, was so sad to see how the whole of thanet had become a building site and effectively dumping ground for London’s unwanted, no steady employment or opportunities there, thia development will only further poverty in thanet and increase the wealth of the few

    • Now is the time to have a “no to development party”ready to elect for the next local election plenty of candidates on here. Vote out the political parties. No more building on our fields, just concentrate on re designing our towns.

  13. Love reading these comments which appear to accurately reflect the opinions of the majority. Politicians…shameful money grabbers..hands out to grab the famous brown envelopes from construction firms. Remember that we the public voted for these disgraceful politicians. No hope..no fields..j

  14. No more social housing. We have enough poor people in Thanet as it is.in fact start knocking down the the old places like the ghettos in parts of Margate and Ramsgate. Do it now before the old building get older and new builds get old . We have got to go back to the beginning sometime otherwise there will be no land left to walk on.

  15. Not here look at the state of the place. Get rid of social housing bring down crime and create a society where you can walk in safety and enjoy clean spaces that are not covered in graffiti or trashed by hooligans

  16. ABC- your view of social housing tenants is an insulting generalization. There is a secere lack of social housing and rather than get rid of it, it should be funded by the government. (Fat chance!)

  17. Funded only encourage low life dropouts to stay dropouts. Stop being a do gooder and get tougher on scroungers and low life scum

  18. When we have built on all our farmland how will we grow enough food in the future to live on?
    Import it from the EU so we are in the hands of another country. Just like our gas supies from Russia! A very short sighted view from local and national government

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