A controversial plan to build a housing estate in a disused chalk pit have been approved by councillors.

Developers applied for permission to build 130 homes in the quarry in Commissioners Road, Strood. But first they have to fill the 25ft deep pit to the level of the road.

Councillors approved the plans at Wednesday night’s planning meeting.

A quarter of the development would be affordable housing and it would include 230 parking spaces.

The proposal also includes roadworks, open recreation areas and landscaping.

At a public exhibition residents raised concerns about increased traffic adding to the heavy flow in and out of the Medway City Estate.

Officers state in a report that the development would “enhance the wider residential area and create a more usable and integrated space”.

It adds: “The existing open space is considered to be of poor quality in that it has been inaccessible to the public for a period of more than a decade and currently does not have significant aesthetic value within the residential value within the residential area.”

It is not the first time developers have tried to build on the site. Campaigners stopped the quarry being used for a commercial development in November 2013 after a planning application to create 6,000sq metres of floor space was submitted to the council.

Opponents argued the plan would lead to an extension of the business estate and councillors felt it would infringe on the Saxon Shore public right of way.