Housebuilder considering land for 470 new homes

Initial plans for 470 new homes near a large Kent village are due to be considered ahead of a full application.

Housebuilding firm Richborough is eyeing up land near Meopham for a proposal to build the homes across two sites close to each other in the village.

Documents submitted to Gravesham Borough Council on Tuesday by consultants Wardell Armstrong, on Richborough's behalf, set out the future proposals.

Half of the homes across the two sites, totalling 52 acres, are set to be marketed as affordable and sold or rented below the market rate.

Some 350 homes are proposed for agricultural fields east of Wrotham Road, near a parade of shops, and a further 120 on another parcel of land south of Longfield Road, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

According to the documents, the proposed development on the smaller site "has potential to provide a new school car park and drop off area".

The documents are part of an Environmental Impact Assessment scoping report, with a planning application for the homes not yet submitted.

The consultants said "significant effects are not likely as a result of either scheme in isolation, or both in combination".

Under planning rules, the council's planning department must respond with a decision within the next three weeks.

Richborough has been asked when it will submit a full planning application.

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