Key projects inside growth areas

Key development projects are taking place in two Kent ‘growth areas’:

• Thames Gateway Kent (also known as ‘Kent Thameside’)
• Ashford.

Both areas offer major opportunities for development with some projects supported by extra funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The following is a selection of these projects.

Ebbsfleet

A mixed-use development including:

• residential, hotel and leisure properties
• retail and community facilities.

Springhead is the first residential phase of Ebbsfleet Valley and it will deliver up to 600 homes and community facilities. The Ebbsfleet development includes the site for the new international and domestic
high-speed rail link, which is due to open in 2007 and will offer faster services to London and the Continent.

For more information about this project, visit the Kent-Thameside website - this link will open in a new window.

Isle of Sheppey Bridge

This new bridge will be opened in 2007 and provide a fixed link across the Swale to the Isle of Sheppey. The bridge will be 1.27 kilometres long and 34.7 metres high. The route of the new road crosses areas of international significance for birds, and includes areas classified as sites of special scientific interest (SSSI). A number of design features have been included in the scheme to reduce the bridge’s effect on the environment.

For more information about this project, visit the Highways Agency website - this link will open in a new window.

Eastern Quarry – Kent Thameside

The proposals for this old quarry site near to the Bluewater shopping centre include up to 7250 homes arranged in five new villages, each containing parks and play areas together with local shopping and community facilities. A 'market centre' will provide commercial, retail, leisure, community and education facilities for the development. There will also be a range of open spaces including lakes, parks, woodland, sports pitches and ecological areas linked by pathways and cycle tracks. A ‘Fastrack’ bus service will link the villages with the market centre.

For more information about this project visit, the Eastern Quarry website - this link will open in a new window.

Repton Park – Ashford Barracks site

The master plan for this new community of 1300 new homes was developed through a joint design process. The ‘urban village’ idea behind the scheme includes a high street with retail, health and community facilities. The scheme also includes:

• a new primary school
• a park stretching along either side of the Channel Tunnel rail link
• refurbishing the listed Repton manor
• a newt pond
• a series of cycle tracks.

Ingress Park – Dartford

Winner of the Royal Town Planning Institute award for planning and urban design and the Building for Life Gold award for Designing Homes for Life, Ingress Park is a development of nearly 900 homes on 75 acres bordering Greenhithe and the River Thames. The scheme includes restoring Ingress Abbey.

For more information about this project, visit the Ingress Park website - this link will open in a new window.

Chatham Maritime

This 140-hectare site is part of the former Royal Dockyard. It includes the St Mary’s Island residential area of 900 homes, a primary school, community centre and doctor's surgery. There is a new state-of-the-art educational complex in the development, together with a 300-berth marina and a shopping centre with more than 80 shops, restaurants and a hotel. Chatham Maritime won the ‘Challenging Regeneration Project' category of the National Regeneration Awards 2004.

For more information about this project, visit the Medway Council website - this link will open in a new window.