Developers hope to build 90 homes and a new business space on the edge of a village, despite claims of “overcrowding”.
The area around Bobbing near Sittingbourne is already being developed, and sits just up from the busy Key Street roundabout.
Now housebuilder Fernham Homes has lodged an application with Swale council for 90 homes in Bobbing Hill, off Sheppey Way, and an employment development opposite the site, next to McDonald’s.
They want permission from the authority for “the delivery of 90 new homes which include bungalows and ground floor maisonettes”.
There will be 40% of the estate – 36 homes – marketed as affordable housing.
Fernham also wants permission for a large patch of land to be used for employment, opposite the estate on Sheppey Way.
It says there is “an acute need” for employment opportunities.
The homes application is a full application, while the bid for business space is only an outline application, meaning specific details of building design and layout will require another planning application in the future.
The planning documents state: “It has been designed to accommodate a range of potential employment uses.” Examples given include a “drive-thru and enterprise units”.
Not far from the proposed development is the Bobbing Hill McDonald’s, which already has a drive-thru and is open 24 hours a day.
Cllr Roger Clark (Con), who represents the area on Swale council, isn’t enthused about the plans though, and hopes the council refuses them.
He said: “I wouldn’t like to see it there, I wouldn’t like to see it anywhere.
“It’s overcrowding – we haven’t got the infrastructure, we haven’t got a proper doctor’s surgery, we just haven’t got anything really.
“You can’t put more people in if you haven’t got it, but they are going to.”
The site is close to the Key Street roundabout which is due a £5.8 million revamp.
The changes include closing the existing A249 Maidstone-bound entry slip lane. Motorists will drive down the adjacent Chestnut Street where there will be a new roundabout just before the Tudor Rose pub where a link road will connect to the A249.
The Chesnut Street arm of the Key Street roundabout will be expanded to include an additional lane.
The works are meant to create a new roundabout to access the in-progress Wises Lane development and the Manor Farm estate, both coming off Chestnut Street.
Wises Lane is set to host 600 homes, and another 50 will be at Manor Farm.
Intended to begin this summer, the works have been delayed due to the discovery of a dormouse nest.
To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.
It is not yet known when Swale council will decide on the Bobbing Hill application, but an internal deadline of January 21 has been set.
