Next stage of 800-home development approved

The next stage of an 800-home development has been approved by councillors.

Phases two, three and four of the East Hill development in the Capstone Valley have been given the go ahead by Medway Council's planning committee.

The outline application for the mixture of houses and flats was refused by the authority in 2021 after it received 900 letters of objection, but it was granted permission at appeal the following year.

Committee chair, Councillor Chrissy Stamp, acknowledged the authority had tried to prevent the development previously but said any refusal would likely be overturned again.

She said: "I understand the frustrations members may have about this planning application, but as you know it lost at appeal and we have to have a planning reason to refuse it, which I can't see."

The development will also include a new school and nursery and a set of commercial units, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey said: "The development will provide a range of much-needed new homes and community facilities, alongside significant investment of over £7m towards local infrastructure."

Councillor Jim Gilbourne said he was concerned about possible congestion in Shawstead Road as it was already busy from people using the tip, and it would also be used for access to the new school.

He added: "I'm interested to know the width of the road going through the development because going to and from the tip you'll have lots of traffic from that part of Medway."

Council planning officer Hannah Gunner replied, saying: "At the moment, the access to the tip on Shawstead Road is quite a narrow country lane, but what is being put in as the spine road for the development is a much wider road.

"Our traffic models for the tip and for the school, particularly during their peak hours, it's not anticipated that they'd conflict considerably."

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