Plans to redevelop Rochester Airport were approved by councillors on Wednesday, to the dismay of those in the public gallery.

More than 700 people objected to the proposals for the “economic hub” over concerns about noise, safety and the effect on house prices.

The approval means the airport will now see huge developments, including a new lit and paved runway, two hangars, a control tower, car parking and family viewing area.

Flights will be capped at 38,000 a year. Take-offs and landings will be restricted to between the hours of 7.30am to 7.30pm, Monday to Friday, and 8.30am to 5.30pm at weekends.

Councillors attended a site visit ahead of the meeting but Cllr Glyn Griffiths (Lab) said the fact that no planes were flying that day for them to properly assess the noise levels “could come back to bite residents”.

“This isn’t democracy, this is a railroad” - public

He also said while the flights would be capped, the limit is still two-and-a-half times more than the average 15,700 flights per year from the airport at the moment, so the expansion would have a huge impact on residents.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) said: “I welcome this proposal. This is not a new application. This operation has been on that site since the early 1930s. The expansion would be an asset to Medway.”

But cries frequently erupted from the public gallery and one man shouted in reply: “Not if you live here it isn’t.”

On issues of safety, people cried out not to forget the recent plane crash in Taiwan and 14 safety incidents at the airport since 2001, including a fatality and an incident of a pane of glass falling out a plane.

The proposal was agreed by a majority of nine Conservative councillors, to five Labour and one Lib Dem who voted against.

Objectors left the meeting with mutters of “this isn’t democracy, this is a railroad”.

An extra condition was imposed that gyrocopter flights will be capped to one in the morning and one in the evening, because these rotary wing aircraft create noise over a more prolonged period.

Medway Council last week secured £4 million government funding for the project, which is set to create up to 1,000 jobs.