Plans to reopen Manston airport were given a boost tonight as senior councillors backed an option which could see the site retained for aviation.

Thanet District Council’s cabinet met at an extraordinary meeting to discuss the authority’s draft local plan, which earmarks more than 17,000 new homes across the district by 2031.

They considered two versions of the document:

The original, which allocates the airport site for mixed development and 2,500 homes, but was rejected by councillors in January when it was put forward by the-then Ukip-controlled council.

And the new version, which does not designate the site for housing, but instead redistributes the 2,500 homes on alternate sites.

Against the recommendation of officers, cabinet members tonight gave their backing to the second option, which effectively allows Manston to be retained for aviation use.

The vote will come as welcome news to River Oak Partnership (ROP), the consortium pursuing a Development Consent Order to re-open Manston as a cargo hub airport. A DCO is a means of enforcing the owners of a site to relinquish if it is deemed to be a nationally significant project.

To account for retaining Manston for aviation, the second option allocates 600 more homes in Birchington; 1,000 in Westgate-on-Sea; 500 in Westwood; 300 in Hartsdown, Margate, and 100 in Minster.

Meanwhile, the current owners of Manston - Stone Hill Park - has recently lodged a planning application for a mixed-use scheme, including up to 3,700 homes, a hi-tech manufacturing park, aviation heritage attractions, a new country park and leisure facilities, including Kent’s first Olympic sized pool.

A meeting of TDC’s full council will now vote on whether to publish the new draft Local Plan.

If published, people will have six weeks to comment on the document before it is submitted to the planning inspectorate for independent examination.

The council is already under pressure from the government for its failure to adopt a Local Plan. It was one of 15 authorities identified by the government as ones that were at risk of losing control over its own strategy and could still be the subject of intervention.

River Oak Partnership is expected to resubmit an application for a DCO after withdrawing its initial application following discussions with officials from the planning inspectorate.