Redevelopment of the St Lawrence Cricket Ground in Canterbury is back on track after a delay of more than a year.

Kent Cricket Club, owners of the ground, have reached an agreement with their commercial partners and a special meeting has been called for Monday, September 14, at which club members can vote on the proposals.

Although the club has agreed to sell land for housing and an hotel for £700,000 less than it originally expected to get, building costs have gone down and this, along with a grant from the England and Wales Cricket Board, means the development costs will fall from £10 million to £8.2 million.

Kent's chairman, George Kennedy, said: "The plans are very much back on track.

"Two years ago various bids came in and we accepted one. That was withdrawn at the last minute because of the credit crunch.

"In our opinion the market is starting to improve a bit and building costs have gone down."

Mr Kennedy added: "We are not involved in the housing and hotel development, only in reshaping the ground.

"We are a members’ club so we felt it important to ask the membership what they think of the proposals which nearly mirror those put before the club two years ago."

Mr Kennedy said the club was confident that the vote would go through. He added that it was expected the project would take about two years to complete and any disruptive work would be done outside the cricket season.