Dates for hearing a legal challenge of the Heritage Quarter planning permission have been fixed.

It will take place in the High Court for a day and a half on October 30 and 31, Urban Gravesham, who launched the legal bid, said.

The review, which is thought to have already cost the Gravesham taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds, challenges the lawfulness of decisions of public authorities, with the court offering a supervisory role.

The hearing will question whether the final decision was beyond the power of the planning department and whether all changes to circumstances were taken into account.

Mr Justice Lewis, who granted the review, rejected claims that there was an expectation the decision would go back to the regulatory board after the Section 106 agreement was concluded.

An Urban Gravesham spokesman said: "Our action has been taken to get the elected councillors to reverse the officers’ decision and to halt the planned low quality, bulky and overcrowded development in the heart of Gravesend’s historic riverside.

"The council’s legal costs will now mount significantly in the two month run-up to the trial and UG has called upon the council leadership to stop squandering Gravesham council tax on lawyers’ fees.

“Cllr Burden could stop this legal action now by agreeing to take the matter back to the council’s committee to allow councillors to vote, but this time with impartial professional advice, fully informed on the application.”

Work on the multimillion-pound scheme – which includes flats, restaurants, a 50-bedroom hotel and underground car parks – was due to start next month.

The first phase, between Queen Street and High Street, was approved in April 2013

Deputy council leader Cllr Lee Croxton has previously said the council would strongly contest the remaining claims, especially after a government inspector had supported the council’s Local Plan which made mention of the Heritage Quarter.

In the Local Plan examination report, inspector Nigel Payne briefly discusses the Heritage Quarter development, describing it as “sound in respect of its policies and proposals for Gravesend town centre”.

Cllr Croxton said: “It has taken more than a decade of negotiation and planning to get to the position where the work could begin, yet it is being delayed by an unrepresentative, unelected group of litigation-minded Luddites.”

The spokesman for Urban Gravesham added: “This is a battle for the very soul of Gravesend.

"Is the future vison of our town to retain its distinctive Thames riverside character or is it to become the high rise, high density future slums for a transient population?”