Member Article

Plans for affordable housing Kings Hill get green light

Plans for the next phase of development at Kings Hill, near Maidstone, have been approved unanimously by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council.

This will see the delivery of 635 much needed homes including affordable, a new primary school – the third at Kings Hill, an extension to the community centre, additional allotments, trim trails and sports pitches for Kings Hill Sports Park.

Land will also be gifted for the development of a place of worship.

Employment land remains for more commercial development and the creation of a further 3,000 jobs.

Kings Hill is being developed as a contemporary ‘garden village’ by Liberty Property Trust and Kent County Council and to date has already delivered 800,000 sq ft of office space and 5,000 jobs along with almost 2,750 new homes together with shops, schools and amenities for roughly 8,800 residents.

Throughout the planning process Liberty has worked closely with the community in deciding the content of the planning application.

Liberty’s managing director Andrew Blevins said: “It is the result of a collaborative journey of detailed consultation with the local community, including resident groups, church groups, sports and social groups and local parish councils,”

“We have committed to a package of community benefits which go beyond what is required by the planning system and we are doing this because we are a long term investor.

“I am very pleased that there was unanimous approval of our plans for Kings Hill and it is gratifying to receive further endorsement of our approach to community building from Michael Cassidy, Chairman Designate of the Ebbsfleet Garden City Corporation when he commented at a property event that the quality and diversity of what we call our ‘garden village’ has many of the elements he would like to see for the Garden City.

“We are very proud of what we have done at Kings Hill and the quality of the development was endorsed recently by The Daily Telegraph when it named Kings Hill as one of the best places to raise a family in the UK.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .