A massive housing development which has more objections than the 1,600 homes proposed is set to be decided on next week.

Thanet District Council (TDC) officers are recommending councillors give the £60 million project in Birchington the green light.

Developers are also pledging to contribute some £46m into community facilities such as new schools and infrastructure with at least £8.2m for road upgrades including the new North Thanet Link Road.

It would see the village expand on 192 acres of land to the west and south of the area set aside for the scheme.

First unveiled in 2021 by Ptarmigan Land, the controversial proposals would see the existing Birchington Medical Centre expanded to handle the influx of new residents while a new link road from the A28 Canterbury Road through the site would be built.

There are also plans for a 70-bedroom care facility and a two-form entry primary school, which could accommodate up to 60 new pupils a year.

The plans have attracted huge discontent with 1,800 objections to the application submitted to TDC’s planning portal.

Among the concerns raised are damage to wildlife, increased strain on infrastructure, sustainability of the new builds and the number of homes proposed.

Officers at the authority claim the economic and social benefits of the scheme would “significantly” outweigh the “less than substantial harm to designated heritage assets and harm to the countryside and agricultural land”.

Parish councillors from nearby Acol Parish Council are among the critics and in the authority’s official objection, they say: “There are many problems with this additional building over our farmland, but mainly the lack of new roads to accommodate the extensive increases in traffic.

“There are still only two access/exit roads for Thanet, the A28 and A299 Thanet Way, which is why much of the traffic uses Acol as a rat run.”

A statement from Monkton Parish Council members added: “This is a greenfield site and as such offers a golden opportunity to incorporate high-quality design that meets local housing needs in an environmentally sensitive and sustainable way.

“This application fails to meet these objectives on many levels.”

Developers also want to create a three-acre multi-purpose sports playing field, a skate park and a village cricket green as well as a small commercial centre, with a convenience store likely to fill at least one of the units.

Since the plans were initially submitted, Places for People Homes - a social enterprise company which aims to “create and support thriving communities” - has joined the team and rejigged documents were submitted to TDC in July last year by the joint developers.

A package worth £46.3m is being set aside to be used for Section 106 contributions - a legal agreement which sees developers offer money to fund infrastructure upgrades and public services.

Ptarmigan and Places for People would have 12 months from the point of approval to submit and sign off on these agreements.

Bodies set to benefit from this will be the NHS, Sports England and Kent County Council’s highways, social care, public transport provision, libraries, schools and youth services and other community.

Major highway upgrades include £5.7m to the North Thanet Link Road (rising to £19.2m if KCC does not secure grant funding from the government).

Funding will also be provided for improvements to the St Nicholas roundabout (£1.5m) and a cycle and pedestrian scheme to Minnis Bay or alternative cycling improvements for the village (£976,000).

Meanwhile, almost £17m would be allocated towards education including a £1m contribution towards acquiring land for a new secondary school and £16.9m on new primary, secondary and special needs provision.

The primary school will be constructed in coordination with Kent County Council, which would then run the site.

Public transport contributions including improvement to Birchington railway station (£90,000) and upgrades to the Brook’s End Level Crossing and new footbridge (£1m) plus £960,000 towards a diverted or new bus service for the development are all proposed.

A financial contribution of almost £1.4m towards the relocated and expanded Birchington Medical Centre is also expected from the developers.

Homes will have between one and five bedrooms, and developers have earmarked 23% as being affordable housing - such as shared ownership, 'help to buy' properties and social rented homes - if funding for the North Thanet Link Road is secured.

This would reduce to 15.5% if that grant bid is not successful.

A new road driving through the estate would start at Minnis Road and finish at Acol Hill and Manston Road, cutting across the A28 Canterbury Road with a roundabout to be built in order to keep traffic flowing.

It is expected more technical details such as the timing of the phased delivery of the project will be revealed when a reserved matters application is submitted, though it is hoped works will be concluded by the end of 2036.

Currently set to be divided into six sections, each phase of the development would need to commence within two years of approval of the final reserved matters being granted.

An extraordinary planning meeting will be held in the council chamber on September 4 and 5 (Wednesday and Thursday) to discuss the application.