Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Plans for 75 homes opposite paper mill
More than 75 homes will be built on riverside wasteland on the outskirts of Canterbury if bold plans are approved by councillors.
Developers want to turn a 12-acre site opposite the historic paper mill in Chartham into a housing complex.
Bosses at mill owners Arjowiggins have submitted the eye-catching proposal to the council, which would include three steel footbridges crossing the picturesque River Stour.
The mill, which has been in the village since 1738, has specialised in making translucent paper since the 1930s and employs about 90 staff.
The stable block, engine shed and 12 abandoned cottages close to Station Road that were once lived in by mill workers will be adapted into homes as part of the development, along with the construction of 53 two-storey homes and 11 twoand-a-half-storey properties.
Issues over potential flooding have been raised by villagers, who fear the estate could become like flood-fit Yalding due to the converging of Stour tributaries at the site.
But developers say flooding has been mitigated and the design of the homes are sympathetic to Chartham’s architecture.
A report from the Enivorn- ment Agency says the chance of flooding at the site each year is 1%.
The plans, spearheaded by mill manager Mark Hobday, can be viewed under the reference CA//17/02633 on the Canterbury City Council planning website.