Plans that could change the face of part of the town centre have been submitted to the council for consideration.

The authority bought the former Royal Mail Sorting Office, next to Maidstone East station, off Sandling Road last summer for £2.5million.

It wants to build 217 flats in five apartment blocks, with commercial space for shops and restaurants on some of the ground levels.

The 1.53 hectare plot includes Kent County Council’s (KCC) adjacent Cantium House building.

The plans have changed significantly from those touted at a public consultation in March this year, when they had included 28 townhouses in the centre of the development.

They have been replaced with a three-storey block of flats.

The scheme is now for a six-storey block facing Sandling Road, with two seven-storey blocks, one eight-storey tower rising to nine storeys on one wing, and a three-storey block.

The design will make use of the existing undercroft parking. Only 159 spaces are proposed, all for use by residents and their visitors. No parking is being provided for the commercial spaces, as it is argued there is public town centre parking available nearby.

The flats would be a mix of one, two and three-bed and all have a balcony or terrace.

Maidstone council says there will be room for a doctor’s surgery, though there is no promise that one will be delivered.

However, it does pledge to use planting and “green walls” to protect the area’s biodiversity.

It will also be fitted with heat pumps and solar panels.

The sorting office shut in 2013.

Previously, Maidstone council had a shared ambition with KCC to build a £50m joint HQ, but that scheme fell by the wayside following the pandemic, when the practice of working from home cut the need for so much office space.

Earlier plans to attract major retailers John Lewis and Asda to the site also fell through.

The planning document, now open to public comments ahead of a decision being made, says: “The regeneration of Maidstone East has the opportunity to both stimulate economic growth and reconnect the site with the wider town centre, setting a benchmark for all future regeneration projects in Maidstone.”

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, visit publicnoticeportal.uk

These plans can be viewed on the Maidstone council website here.

Look for application number 23/504552.

One Maidstone borough councillor, Tony Harwood (Lib Dem), has already voiced his concerns about the development.

He said the most fundamental concern of the project was to deliver affordable housing and infrastructure, which needed to be secured by “robust” legal agreements.

He added: “The key aspiration for a public sector organisation bringing this site forward for development must be meeting the desperate local need for genuinely affordable and high quality, sustainable and accessible residential development balanced with requisite community infrastructure.

“If any proposal fails to achieve this it is far better to wait until prevailing conditions enable the framing and delivery of a high quality and sustainable development.”

Cabinet member for housing and health, Cllr Lottie Parfitt-Reid (Con), previously said the scheme would help boost the borough’s housing options for those on lower incomes.

She added: “We are committed to deliver 1,000 affordable homes in the borough and the development at the former Royal Mail site will help realise that ambition.”