New images have been released of a flagship riverside project featuring nearly 200 new homes overlooking a castle and cathedral.

Plans have now been officially submitted for the Strood Waterfront development which aims to transform the former council HQ and includes a cafe and waterfront bar.

The land, which was once home to an industrial factory before becoming home to Medway Council, has been empty for several years following the local authority’s move to Gun Wharf in Chatham.

Initial plans were announced in August about potential new housing on the brownfield site.

If approved, the council will need to agree to sell the site to Medway Development Company to oversee the 2.81 hectare scheme – which is behind Strood Retail Park.

A consultation was launched in January to seek people’s views on the proposal.

An application has now been officially submitted to build 195 homes made up of 61 homes and 134 flats in 13 apartment blocks.

In total, 96 of the flats and 50 homes have been earmarked for private housing.

Of the remaining properties a quarter are designated as affordable homes, consisting of 38 houses and 11 flats.

The site would feature two, three and four-bed homes, while the apartments would have either one, two or three bedrooms.

Homes will be designed with sustainable technologies to provide a low carbon future-proofed living.

Meanwhile, the project will include 121 parking and 256 cycle spaces.

A riverside cafe and bar, plus a replacement building for the existing ambulance rest station is also proposed.

Improved green space will be included as part of the development, including a new riverside walk.

The plot was once home to Invicta Engineering Works Factory, Aveling and Porter and other industrial businesses - the buildings for which have all been demolished.

The council-owned CCTV building and ambulance station at the west of the site remain.

Both will be knocked down with the former being relocated and the ambulance station to be re-provided on the plot.

Information from the developers on the application’s planning statement adds: “Our vision for the former Strood Civic Centre site is to deliver homes of exemplary architecture to compliment the rich historic context of Strood.

“Our ambition is to provide more and better homes that local people can afford.

“The Strood Waterfront Development Brief, published in 2018, shows how Strood’s Waterfront can be transformed with up to 1,600 homes, new businesses and public spaces.

“The Waterfront sites will improve connections to the station, the town centre, Medway City Estate and Frindsbury.

“[It] will set benchmarks for good quality urban design and architecture [and] will provide housing and other benefits for local residents.

“It will have a positive impact on the vitality and sustainability of the town centre, helping to diversify Strood’s retail and leisure offer and attract new markets”.

A decision on the application is expected by June 21.

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

The proposal is the first development in the Strood Waterfront Project, which could see up to 1,600 homes across eight sites.

The council’s sub-contractor Medway Development Company is overseeing the project which sparked controversy after the former Aveling Porter Roller Steam plant, a landmark building, was demolished.

Conservationists fought to save the building, which was the world’s biggest manufacturer of steamrollers but failed after English Heritage refused to give it listed status.

At one point it became a large car park for visitors coming to Rochester for various festivals and events held in the castle grounds.

The company, which was created by the council to deliver new homes developments across the area, has access to a £120 million loan to fund its projects.

Elsewhere, Medway Council was awarded almost £4m in government funding to pave the way for multiple new homes developments across the Towns - including for the Strood Waterfront project.

A £1.7m ring-fenced grant came from the one public estates brownfield release fund specifically to deliver the scheme.