A reserved matters application for 250 homes by Salmestone Grange in Margate will be discussed by councillors next week.
The application for the 9.3 hectare agricultural site off Nash Road has been made by Bellway Homes and undergone a number of amendments since last year.
These include the addition of a doorstep play area; a more direct and overlooked route from the school drop off area to the Manston Road footpath; alteration of the e housing mix to include more 1 bed maisonettes ( included within the affordable housing in place of 3 bed houses); layout changes and tree planting.
Bellway Homes took on the site in 2022 after outline permission was granted for the scheme. Proposals were initially lodged with Thanet council in 2016 by Piper Developments. Despite a decision to ‘defer and delegate’ approval to officers in August 2017 that outline permission took until February 2022 to be granted.
The controversial application had provoked opposition for reasons including environmental concerns and the reduction of affordable homes from 30% (75 homes) to 18% (45 homes).
The scheme consists of twelve 1-bed flats, sixteen 2-bed flats, twenty-nine 2-bed houses, 111 three-bed houses, and 82 four-bed houses. Of those, 45 homes will be ‘affordable’ consisting of 12 one bedroom flats, 16 two bedroom flats, 5 two bedroom houses, 9 three bedroom houses and 3 four bedroom houses.
Parking is provided with one or two spaces per dwelling depending upon size and 105 visitor parking spaces. One electric charging point per dwelling has been provided.
A distributor road is to run east west through the centre of the site joining Nash Road to Manston Road. A roundabout will connect with Manston Road and Nash Road would be realigned.
The reserved matters application – which deals with areas such as layout, access and scale of an approved outline application – has received 25 letters of objection from individuals and St Gregory’s Primary School raising concerns including noise and disturbance, impact on the school, loss of agricultural land, lack of affordable housing and increased traffic.
Issues such as the level of affordable homes and building on agricultural land cannot be dealt with as this was already given the green light in the outline application.
A new pedestrian access is proposed to serve St Gregory’s School, plus 10 on-street parking bays for parents compensate for a loss in Manston Road.
Kent County Council biodiversity says in addition to recommendations for 42 bird boxes, two bat boxes and enhancement of site boundaries with nectar rich planting it would like the site to include integrated bat, bird and bee bricks in the dwellings, creation of log piles/hibernacula within the site boundary and mitigation for skylarks.
NHS Kent and Medway requires £216,000. towards refurbishment, reconfiguration and/or extension of existing general practice and other healthcare premises, predicting the development will generate approximately 600 new patient registrations.
The application has been called to the planning committee by Cllr Leo Britcher to consider the impact on highway safety and the layout of the development.
A report to councillors recommends approval.
Councillors will discuss the issue when the planning committee meets on February 14.
