Decision expected on 450-home farmland development

Plans for a development including 450 homes on farmland in north Kent are due to be decided.

Nearly 800 letters of objection have been sent to Medway Council regarding the plans for Gibraltar Farm, Ham Lane, in Hempstead.

The application to build homes, a children’s nursery and a retail unit is set to be decided on 28 August after three years.

Council officers have recommended outline planning permission for the nearly 30-hectare site should be approved.

Conditions on the plans include that a quarter of the new houses must be affordable and the provision of a nursery.

Another requirement is a £5.6million contribution to local infrastructure, which would fund services including education, waste collection, and improvements to Gillingham and Rainham town centres.

The developer, F.D. Attwood & Partners, will have to provide specific designs regarding the layout, scale, and design of the new houses.

An outline planning application for the site was initially refused by Medway Council in 2016 but then granted on appeal.

The current version of the plans was submitted in May 2021, but a previous iteration was rejected by the council’s planning department in 2019 owing to concerns about the sustainability of the development.

An appeal by the developer was dismissed.

Planning officers have said the strong benefits of the development include a large number of affordable homes, employment opportunities as a result of the construction, and the further economic development of the area.

The council has received 789 letters of objection from residents.

Other opponents include the Woodland Trust, Sport England, former MPs Rehman Chishti and Dame Tracey Crouch and the current MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, Helen Whately.

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