Amended plans to build 1,600 homes, a primary school, shops, care home, expansion of Birchington medical centre and a community park on farmland at Birchington have been lodged with Thanet council.
The development is earmarked to take place on land off the Canterbury Road and was first proposed by Ptarmigan Land and Millwood Designer Homes in 2019 with a planning application submitted in December 2020.
Millwood Designer Homes is no longer part of the scheme. The joint applicants are now Ptarmigan Birchington Ltd, Places for People Homes Ltd, landowners The Master Fellows and Scholars of the College of Saint John The Evangelist in the University of Cambridge and The Birchington Pool Trust.
Amendments include a reduction in homes from 1,650 to 1,600 and introduce additional green areas to preserve archaeological potential. There are also changes to the development boundary line.
The plan includes a new strategic link road between Minnis Road and Manston Road, alterations to existing junctions and new access arrangements from Minnis Road, Park Lane, Canterbury Road and Manston Road/Acol Hill and a new recreational and leisure shared-use link between Minnis Road and Park Lane.
Development will not take place on areas of regionally important archaeological remains across the site that are to be preserved in situ.
These include:
- double concentric ring ditch (possible late neolithic/early bronze age henge) along the northern boundary of the site at Mill Row
- rectilinear and rectangular enclosures along the southwestern perimeter of the site 3. group of three ring ditches to the south of the site to the east of Canterbury Road
- medieval settlement remains associated with an existing path/track toward the centre of the west of the site.
The proposals include a network of new cycle and pedestrian routes linking Quex, the coast and the wider countryside; 36 play spaces with 6 equipped; seasonal wetland basins; Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and discharge via infiltration plus swales and bioretention systems; woodland with information boards; edible corridor and community orchard and a heritage pocket park.
Network Rail has issued an objection to the application on the basis of an increase of users at Brook’s End Level Crossing. Network Rail has confirmed, however, that this objection could be overcome subject to a suitable planning condition and a contribution towards the a new crossing across the railway.
Following the original outline application a letter objecting to the plans was sent to Thanet council by councillors George Kup (above) and Phil Fellows (below).
In it the Birchington representatives said there were questions over how an expanded medical centre and a school would be funded. They also said there were concerns over extra traffic and pollution and over who would maintain the green areas shown in the development proposal.
A petition was also raised by resident Gary Fowler questioning why grade one land is being used when the development could instead incorporate grade 2 and 3 land further west.
Concerns over the increase in population, stretched medical services and the loss of countryside and paths have also been raised.
The original plans also prompted a furious letter to government from North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale, a forceful objection lodged by Birchington Parish Council and some 200 public objections.
The amended plans can be seen on the Thanet council planning portal, reference OL/TH/20/1755
St John’s College Cambridge Thanet land ownership
| Property | Hectares |
| Cleve Court Farm, Thanet, Kent, CT7 0JH. | 310.64 |
| Shuart Farm, St Nicholas At Wade, Kent, CT7 0NB. | 192 |
| Docker Hill Farm, Monkton, Ramsgate, Kent, CT12 4JH. | 137.8 |
| Crumps Farm, St Nicholas At Wade, Kent, CT7 0NQ. | 92.17 |
| Land at Nash Court Farm, Nash Road, Margate, Kent, CT9 4LA. | 59.08 |
| Gore End Farm, Minnis Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9SJ. | 32.98 |
| Land adjacent to Shuart Farm, St. Nicholas At Wade, Kent. CT7 0NB. | 15.7 |
| Nash Court Farm, Nash Road, Margate, Kent, CT9 4LA. | 4.86 |
| Garden area rear of Acol Cottages, Kent, CT7 0HU. | 0.14 |
Major land development on those sites includes Nash Court Farm allocated up to 1,461 residential units and the Ptarmigan site Birchington with 1600 homes.
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