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Quinn Estates promise to build Sittingbourne's Northern Relief Road as part of Teynham home plans
14:36, 07 December 2022
updated: 14:38, 07 December 2022
Developers wanting to build more than 1,000 homes are promising to complete part of a road that will reduce traffic around Sittingbourne if it gets the green light.
Quinn Estates is not only hoping to build 1,250 dwellings and a new primary school but also the Bapchild section of the Northern Relief Road (NRR) at Highsted Park in Teynham.
Proposals include the provision of the NRR which will reduce the traffic flow within the town.
This long-awaited connection would go through the Eurolink trading estate and connect Swale Way with the A2 at Bapchild.
As well as building the homes, of which 375 would be affordable, Quinn Estates has said it will install “game-changing infrastructure” in the area.
A statement from its planning application reads: “A fundamental part of the proposals is the completion of the Bapchild section of the NRR and its integration with the proposed development and the wider Highsted Park masterplan, namely the proposed Southern Relief Road (SRR) which would link the A2 to the M2.
“The completion of the Bapchild section of the NRR is a long-standing policy aspiration of the council.”
Quinn Estates plans to demolish and relocate existing farmyard and workers’ cottages in the area. It also hopes to create a mix-use local centre and neighbourhood facilities including commercial, business and employment floorspace.
There will also be woodland, and community and sports provision.
Despite the promise of the NRR, one nearby resident objected to the plans, stating traffic would only worsen as a result.
Graham Sargent, from Lynsted, said: “The entire Sittingbourne area is struggling to exist without vital services.
“This proposal will only bring more people and resulting traffic and no improvement in the infrastructure in spite of vague promises.”
However, Malcolm Stewart, from School Street, disagreed.
He said: “I support the proposals at Highsted Park which will bring a number of benefits to Sittingbourne and Swale.
“The proposals will help to alleviate traffic with the creation of a new motorway junction, create a wide range of jobs for the entire community, and support the housing crisis with delivery of affordable homes.
“It will also support the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
In January this year Swale council said its legal experts had told them some of Quinn Estates' plans for the homes at Highsted Park were “not lawful” and needed to be resubmitted.
In response Ben Geering, planning director at Quinn Estates, said the firm was surprised after “referring to legal advice we received from the council’s planning department”.
Since the disagreement, Quinn Estates has updated its planning documents with many amended documents.
To comment on the application enter 21/503906/EIOUT on Swale council's planning portal.
It comes as plans were submitted for a 2,500-home garden village at the other end of Sittingbourne, near Bobbing.
That would include a school, GP surgery and has promised to build a business park creating 850 jobs.
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