Ebbsfleet housing scheme approved
Ebbsfleet Development Corporation has approved plans designed by PRP for a 281-home “village” scheme in Ashmere in the garden city’s Eastern Quarry site.
The scheme for Countryside and Clarion Housing Group will include 175 one- and two-bed apartments and 106 houses, with 25% of the scheme being affordable homes either for social rent or shared ownership.
The scheme was approved by officers at the development corporation under delegated powers, due to the difficulty of holding planning committee meetings under the coronavirus lockdown. It is thought to be one of the largest schemes to have been approved by delegated powers since lockdown began more than a month ago.
The scheme marks the first phase of the proposed Ashmere village, which the development corporation says will ultimately consist of 3,000 homes, a new primary school and a village centre.
Mark Pullin, chief planning officer at Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, said: “While these are challenging times for us all and working practices have changed in recent weeks, we have been able to approve these plans under powers already delegated to officers.”
The development corporation said the design of the scheme fused references to the oast houses of Kent’s villages with the Georgian streets of Gravesend. It will also include 40% more street trees, in a move which the corporation said would “put the garden in to garden city”.
The news came as Countryside announced it had been selected by housing quango Homes England to develop a package of regeneration sites in Chatham’s historic dockyard area.
The 2.7 hectares Chatham scheme designed by BPTW will deliver 274 homes and 11,000 sq ft of commercial space, with work due to start in 2022 prior to completion in 2026.
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