A multi-million pound "green corridor" of cycling and walking routes across North Kent is planned.

Ebbsfleet Development Corporation has submitted a grant of £7.4million to Kent County Council (KCC) to run a major infrastructure project connecting thousands of homes at Ebbsfleet Garden City with other parts of the county.

A "hit list" of six new walking and cycling routes are being worked on over the next four years for commuters, joggers, cyclists and dog walkers.

Julia Gregory, who is the director of projects at Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC), described the programme as a "jigsaw puzzle" and said: "It will be a big step for us in terms of cycling and walking routes for the area."

A total of 7.5km of new footways and cycleways have been completed since work on the Garden City started in 2016, including a £16million bridge connecting Springhead Park to Ebbsfleet International which opened two weeks ago.

EDC bosses have said the scheme forms part of a long-standing ambition to ensure at least 40% of the Ebbsfleet Garden City homes can be accessed by means of "sustainable transport" to cut down on pollution from road traffic.

Under the plans, Arriva Fastrack buses will account for 20% while the remaining 20% will be for improving and creating walking and cycling routes.

To date, KCC has approved plans to create a £12million tunnel linking Dartford's Bluewater shopping centre to 6,250 houses at Eastern Quarry, Whitecliffe, a staple of the Garden City scheme. Plans are under way for the "green corridor".

Ms Gregory, who has previously spearheaded several major UK infrastructure projects including the second runway development at Gatwick Airport, said: "Projects I worked on in the past, during my career, have been much bigger value wise, but this is a very complex and interesting scheme to take part in."

The green corridor will represent the third of four phases in the Garden City development, which will also see up to 20 small-scale improvements to existing walking and cycling routes in the Gravesham and Dartford area.

Around 2,500 houses have been constructed in the Garden City development as 4,000 people have already moved in. A total of 12,500 more homes are planned for development by 2035. Ms Gregory added: "The housing market is still very strong in Ebbsfleet which is really positive news."

As the local highways authority, KCC has been asked to manage and deliver the programme of works. If agreed, council bosses would be expected to appoint a project manager and formulate designs for the proposed routes.

A KCC report published online on July 28 stated: "The principle behind the 'green corridors' project is to aid the creation of a walking and cycling culture to improve public realm whilst making routes safer to use, more appealing and less polluted from traffic."

A final decision will be made by KCC cabinet member for highways, Cllr Michael Payne (Con), after County Hall's environment and transport committee meet to discuss the proposal on Thursday, September 15.

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