Lowfield Street, Dartford: more homes proposed for town centre scheme
09:51, 07 April 2022
updated: 09:52, 07 April 2022
A town centre’s transformation is set to continue as 155 flats could be approved next week.
Bellway Homes has been looking to transform the site of a former brewery in Lowfield Street in Dartford as part of its Copperhouse Green project.
The developer aims to build 664 homes in total and construction first started in 2019.
Phases one, two and three at the old brewery have already been completed with residents moving into the first properties last year.
Now nearing the end of the project, Bellway has applied to finish the last two phases of development.
The first site on 46-58 Lowfield Street would see 71 flats – in five storeys – built next to the existing phases, and would affect the setting of two Grade II Listed Buildings, one at 41A Lowfield Street and the other the Two Brewers pub.
However a heritage report conducted on behalf of Bellway said the flats would “have no impact on their significance”.
Meanwhile a second site at the former Dartford Tyre Zone shop would also become a five-storey block with 84 flats.
Despite not offering any affordable housing Bellway has instead offered 10% of the flats will be “shared ownership”.
While council policy says developers should provide 30% affordable housing the developers have cited increased construction costs with council officers calling the decision “regrettable”.
Planning officers have recommended both proposals to be approved at a planning meeting on Thursday, April 14.
The land had been previously owned by Tesco’s, which had attempted to build a supermarket on the site as early as 2003, but sold the land to Bellway in 2015 after several failed applications.