The deadline to submit views on a 1,650 home development planned for Birchington is now August 31 after the parish council requested an extension of the original cut off date on July 20.
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 were lodged with Thanet council at the end of June.
Since then dozens of objections have been sent to the council protesting against the proposal due to concerns including the loss of agricultural land, overcrowding, traffic congestion, pressure on existing services such as GPs and Southern Water capacity.
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.
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.
Objections
Following the original outline application a letter objecting to the plans was sent to Thanet council by councillors George Kup and Phil Fellows.
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.
Since the amended application was submitted some 180 further objections have been lodged.
Birchington Parish Council
Birchington Parish Council met with Ptarmigan representatives last month to seek clarification on the plan amendments and have contracted AECOM consultants to produce a report for BPC by the end of this week.
This response will be discussed at a parish council planning meeting on August 22, 6.30pm at Church House, and the meeting is open to residents.
Following the meeting BPC will lodge its response with Thanet council.
The Birchington site is a large scale, strategic housing allocation in Thanet’s Local Plan – a blueprint for development up until 2031.
Birchington ward councillors will be at Dog Acre in Birchington this Saturday with information and guidance on how to make comments on the council’s planning portal.
The amended plans can be seen on the Thanet council planning portal, reference OL/TH/20/1755
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