Opponents of a proposed new housing estate at Strode Farm have issued a final rallying call for residents to challenge the scheme.

Developer Hollamby Estates submitted an application for up to 800 homes at the site next to the Thanet Way, which would become known as Lower Herne Village.

However, there are fears it will destroy the character of the area by swallowing Herne village in the urban sprawl and blighting the area with traffic and lorries.

Herne and Broomfield parish council has made a final plea for people to raise their concerns about the scheme to Canterbury City Council.

Chairman Ann Blatherwick said: “There are still a lot of concerns with the access to the estate, the density of the housing, the lack of open space, and the height of homes.

“There are particular issues with the highways, and the lack of new schools provision and all the other infrastructure that needs upgrading.

“The main road will go right through the residential area with all the problems that will bring. It’s not ideal by any means and it is not serving the purpose it purports to.

“Call me cynical, but why have they put in an application now, just as the next Local Plan inspection starts? People have been up in arms about this, but they are perhaps feeling jaded. It’s going to go on for a long time yet.

“We need to get the community together to prove we are a separate community from Herne Bay. We have our own identity.”

Cllr Carol Davis also says there are also concerns over the junction of Bullockstone Road and the A291 Canterbury Road, where traffic would enter a blind bend.

Hollamby Estates says it will work alongside Kent County Council for road upgrades, with costs partly paid for by any partner housing developers in the scheme.

Hollamby’s development manager Chris Crook says the outline application submitted to the city council is in response to a “housing crisis”.

He said: “From our market research, the demand is for family homes rather than flats. We have a number of sites in the county and we want this to be a flagship development.

“We have developed a masterplan which has gone into a level of detail that wouldn’t normally be the case at this stage, so that people can see what we are planning.”

To view or comment on the plans, visit www.canterbury.gov.uk and quote planning reference number CA/15/01317.