Almost 750 homes planned for Kent village set for approval in one night
Dover District Council will decide the fate of two neighbouring projects in Whitfield tomorrow
Plans for 739 homes on the edge of a village are set to be approved in one night.
Dover District Council’s (DDC) planning committee is to meet on Wednesday (April 23) to discuss the fate of two neighbouring projects in Whitfield, Dover.
One application, by Pentland Homes, is for 309 properties to the land northwest of Archers Court Road.
The other – 430 homes south of Church Whitfield Road – has been submitted by developers Danescroft.
Both have been recommended for approval by DDC planning officers.
Once a small village on the hills above Dover, Whitfield has seen significant development in recent years.
DDC’s ‘core strategy’ document, published in 2010, earmarked the area for a “managed urban expansion” totalling 5,750 homes, and both sides being considered this week feature in the authority’s Local Plan.
Pentland Homes’ outline bid – which includes 93 affordable homes – was submitted to DDC in June 2023, and has attracted six objection comments.
The application site covers 34.3 acres, the size of almost 20 football pitches, on the eastern edge of Whitfield.
Pentland Homes’ agents, DHA Planning, write: “The site comprises four fields – two large rectangular arable fields to the south and two smaller fields of pasture to the north, with the disused buildings of Parsonage Farm located at the point where the four fields meet.”
They stress the importance of the plans for “much-needed market and affordable housing on a sustainably located site”.
Danescroft’s proposed site, covering 36 acres, is directly next to the land where Pentland wants to build, and is of a similar size, including 30% affordable housing.
The company is also using DHA Planning as its agents, and it claims the scheme – which 35 people have objected to – will house more than 1,000 residents.
Its bid is a hybrid application, meaning it is asking for full permission for 88 of the homes with detailed designs, but only asking for outline permission for the other 342.
This means that, if approved, the company will have to come back with further detailed planning applications for the 342 homes at a later date.
DDC’s planning committee will meet at 6pm on Wednesday.