More than £100 million could be spent by customers every year in shops proposed for a controversial garden community in Maidstone, it has been claimed.

Proposals for up to 5,000 homes near Lenham have been the subject of much council discussion, and campaigners opposed to the plan marched through the town centre in protest last week.

Fresh details of the scheme, which is being called Heathlands, have been published in documents submitted to the council's Call for Sites, where it asks landowners to identify possible plots for development.

In the literature, produced by planning consultants Barton Willmore, it outlines plans for a host of different services and facilities as well as the homes.

This includes a four hectare "mixed-use district centre", which would include employment, retail, community and other commercial uses as well as three smaller "local centres" to meet the day-to-day needs of those living there.

It claims the district centre would accommodate a full range of shops, services, housing and offices spread out along a tree-lined boulevard, and could be served by a new high-speed railway station and motorway junction.

A secondary school, four primary schools and an extensive country park - to act as a "green buffer" to the development - are also all proposed.

Planning chiefs say construction of the homes alone would create 459 jobs directly, plus another 409 indirectly in terms of managing the project's delivery.

It is also estimated that potential retail spending at Heathlands could be in the region of £114m per year, bringing in even more jobs, plus another £10m in council tax.

However, the Save Our Heath Lands group has voiced strong opposition to the scheme, arguing there would be a loss of green space, more local disruption and claims too many discussions have been held in secret.

The council is acting as the master-developer for the project, which means it takes a controlling interest in the land, leads the design process, enables the required infrastructure, identifies suitable development partners and oversees the stewardship of the new community.

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