700-home estate

Application is expected to be given approval

The scale of a large housing estate that could be built in the shadows of ancient woodland on the outskirts of Canterbury is today revealed for the first time.

Developers have submitted plans for 700 new homes to the west of Sturry and south of Broad Oak, with a new primary school and medical hub forming part of a new city suburb.

A tree-lined relief road will cut through the development, taking traffic from Sturry Hill away from the congested level crossing and linking with Sturry Road along a 300-metre viaduct over the River Stour and railway line.

The £32 million road network – funded largely by developers – will also connect with Shalloak Road near the Broad Oak level crossing, allowing motorists to cut across to the other side of the city.

BDB Design, which has produced a plan for the site on behalf of developers Environ Design, says: “The vision is to create a new and vibrant sustainable urban extension to the north east of the city.

“It is proposed that the development will deliver a productive and vibrant community where many people will live and take pride in their environment.”

Spread across 140 acres of mostly woodland and farmland, much of the site is owned by the Greenfields shooting range – but less than half is earmarked for housing.

The homes would be built by Chartway Homes and range from one-bedroom flats to five- bedroom detached houses. A two-form entry primary school would be built in the south eastern corner of the site, alongside a medical hub, new public car park and a building hosting a community hall and parish council office space.

An outline application to achieve support for the principle of the development was submitted last week, alongside detailed plans for the Sturry relief road.

In it, Environ Design says the scheme is “critical to the delivery of Canterbury’s future development and provision of sufficient housing to meet demand”.

The site is already earmarked for 700 homes in the city coun- cil’s recently adopted Local Plan, which also includes land north towards Broad Oak, where an application for 300 new homes is expected this year.

Both applications are likely to sail through the planning process as the council looks to hit house-building targets.

A further proposal for 250 homes at Hoplands Farm in Hersden has already been approved.

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The area near Sturry and Broad Oak where hundreds of houses are planned. Top, a design for the viaduct across it