A Kent town’s largest new housing development has been given the green light – despite fears it would resemble a “concrete slum”.

House-building giant Taylor Wimpey has won its appeal against Canterbury City Council’s decision to reject its sprawling 900-home scheme in Hillborough, Herne Bay.

The government overturned the local authority’s verdict, which was issued last September, concluding that the 135-acre site “would be an attractive place to live and work”.

“The proposal would make efficient use of land, taking into account the character of the surrounding area and the importance of securing well-designed places,” a letter written on behalf of Housing Secretary Michael Gove noted.

“It would be an attractive place to live and work and would be in keeping with its wider surroundings.”

The government also supported the developer’s decision to lower its affordable housing levels from 22% to just 10%, labelling the move “justified” for viability reasons.

This is despite it being a third of the local authority’s usual requirement of 30%.

Families living in nearby Beltinge had previously complained that the influx of construction traffic and new residents would create gridlock through the centre of the village. But the government also discounted these concerns.

The letter added: “Construction vehicles travelling to and from the site would not have an unacceptable impact on highways safety or interfere with the free movement of traffic.

"Traffic without a local origin or destination would also be unlikely to travel through Beltinge

“The Secretary of State considers that the delivery of homes carries significant weight.

“Overall, the Secretary of State concludes that the appeal should be allowed and planning permission granted, subject to conditions.”

Councillors voted to snub Taylor Wimpey’s proposals 14 months ago, with Tankerton's Cllr Neil Baker believing the new-builds would be too dense and would contribute to the area “becoming a concrete slum”.

But their decision came in the face of warnings that refusing the scheme – which had already been earmarked for development in the authority’s housing blueprint, the Local Plan – could spark a potentially costly appeal.

Wincheap representative Cllr Nick Eden-Green stated there were no valid grounds on which to refuse the project, despite admitting: "I would love to reject this application."

And reacting to Mr Gove’s decision, the Canterbury Lib Dem said: “We had little option but to agree it because I didn’t believe that the reasons for objecting to it would have stood up at appeal.

“When looking at major sites in our Local Plan we have to be extremely careful the cost of losing an appeal could be very significant to the council.”

Tory councillor Ian Stockley, who voted against the project, says he was “disappointed, but not surprised” by this week’s news.

But he maintains that it was the correct decision to snub the scheme, reasoning it has made the estate “a better place to live in”.

“Each dwelling will have photovoltaics and the electricity supply will be upgraded so that EV charging points can be included – these are things we were trying to get Taylor Wimpey to agree to, but failed,” he added.

“The only reason we have them now, in my view, is because it went to appeal.

“Traffic is a major concern, though. I fear this will have an impact on (nearby) Beltinge village and Reculver Primary School because they’re all sharing the same road space.

“I’m concerned for the village of Hoath because the road connecting this estate to Canterbury runs through there and out into Sturry.”

The plans show 31,500 sq m of employment or commercial space – including an 80-bed care home, shops, community centre and land for a primary school – will also be built as part of the project.

The site is one of three earmarked for construction south of Beltinge, with Kitewood hoping to erect 180 homes nearby and AE Estates hoping to add 350 more to the area.

A Taylor Wimpey spokesperson said: “We are absolutely delighted that our plans to bring forward a brand new community of 900 homes in Hillborough have been approved.

"Alongside new homes, the development will provide significant benefits to the local area including a new primary school, care home, community centre, allotments, sports pitches and areas of open space.

"In addition, we will carry out improvement works to local roads including Thanet Way, as well as providing contributions of over £8million towards the new Herne Relief Road, local healthcare facilities and secondary education.

“We would like to thank the local community for their valuable feedback during the consultation period. We look forward to working with them further and starting work at the development early next year.”

A Canterbury City Council spokesman said: "The land at Hillborough is a strategic development site in the existing Local Plan so we are pleased it is coming forward to provide much-needed housing for local people.

"Residents will remember that the application was originally refused by our Planning Committee on five grounds, which led to the appeal being lodged by the applicant.

"We took legal advice on our position in the lead up to the inquiry. Having considered this advice at a subsequent meeting, the Planning Committee agreed that three of the five reasons for refusal (relating to the density of the development, insufficient high quality open space and proposed highway improvements) should no longer be in dispute with the appellant as we did not have a strong enough case to take to the appeal.

"The fourth reason was about sustainable construction measures, and in the lead up to the inquiry the appellant agreed to provide additional measures, which are likely to be photovoltaic panels for each home. The committee agreed that this addressed that reason for refusal.

"The fifth and final reason related to affordable housing. Again, in the run up to the inquiry, the appellant submitted a further viability assessment to support their position that only 10% affordable housing could be provided on this site for the development to remain viable.

"We considered this evidence and took independent expert advice. Having done so, it was agreed that as a result of the economic conditions and the increased costs of developing the site, the amount of affordable housing that could be provided by the development had reduced from 22.5% to 10%.

"Essentially, all of this meant that by the time the planning inquiry started, we had reached a stage where none of the five reasons for refusal would be taken forward to the appeal, and that is the position we put forward at the inquiry.

"The appellant did not make an application for costs against us."

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