‘Milestone’ as Otterpool plans put in

The first official plans for a controversial garden town between Ashford and Hythe have been formally submitted.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) confirmed it has now received the planning documents proposing to build the first 8,500 homes at Otterpool Park.

FHDC, alongside developing partners Cozumel Estates, plan to create 10,000 homes on greenfield land around Folkestone Racecourse in phases over a projected period of 30 years.

The authority previously stated the formal application would be submitted in November, but pushed the timescales back to ‘early 2019’ shortly after.

The documents are currently not available for the public to view, as all planning applications are subject to a validation period.

This is usually a couple of weeks, but it is thought it could take longer due to the volume of documents that need to be checked.

Blueprints will then be available for all to view and leave comments and feedback.

District council leader Cllr Monk, described it as “major milestone”.

He said: “The submission of the planning application makes our ambitions for Otterpool Park all the more real.

“Ultimately, this new Garden Town will have 10,000 homes, employment space, community facilities, schools, doctors and dentists, all set in more than 40 per cent of green space. A great place for future generations to call home.”

The project was recently handed a £1.25million cash injection by the government.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced a £9 million cash injection to speed up the locally-led building of new garden towns and villages across the country, with Otterpool Park being awarded the largest sum of the 21 proposed schemes.

Consultations sparked a decision to strip the amount of houses from 12,000 to 10,000, instead expanding the town’s boundaries according to FHDC.

Bosses hope to start building initial homes and infrastructure next year.