Plans for a sixth development in an area where more than 8,500 homes are already proposed has led to fears a “countryside is being consumed”.

Residents living to the south of Ashford have long been braced for scores of properties in the area, most notably the nearby Chilmington Green 'garden town' of 5,750 homes.

It comes as more than 13,000 homes need to be built in Kent every year under the Labour government’s new targets - including 950 a year in Ashford.

Now, developer Jarvis Homes wants to add a sixth development of 36 homes to land off Ashford Road.

The Hertfordshire-based company has submitted an outline application to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) for the houses on a 6.5-acre farmland plot opposite Ashford Town Cricket Club.

Of the 36 properties proposed in the Meadow Court scheme, developers say 25 would be private homes while a further 11 would be deemed as social or affordable housing.

They would all be detached and two storeys tall, plus feature parking barns for residents.

If approved, the site, which is in ABC’s Local Plan to 2030, would also see a new access road created from Ashford Road near the junction with Magpie Hall Road.

But Cllr Jessamy Blanford (Con) fears the number of housing around Singleton and Kingsnorth is already at its limit.

The Weald Central representative, who has served on ABC since 2007, explained: "I think there's enough homes in the area that are either under construction or due to be constructed in the future.

"When you used to come from Singleton it used to be just agricultural fields and countryside and it's now being consumed into housing developments.

"We're obviously stuck with Chilmington Green and are now trying to get it done properly.

"But we'll of course look at each application on its own merit.

"People have to live somewhere and you don't want to be selfish and say they shouldn't be built, but you need to find the right kind of houses for those who want to move here.

"We're just under quite a lot of pressure from government for more houses to be built."

Planning documents submitted by APX Architecture argue the mini-estate would not be problematic.

Information reads: "The proposed development will deliver both open market and affordable housing.

"The new houses would be sufficiently separated from other dwellings so as not to cause harm to residential amenities including overshadowing or overbearing issues.

"[They] would not result in significant harm to or the loss of public or private land that contributes positively to the local character of the area."

A decision on the application is expected by May 1.

Bordering the newly submitted application, ABC approved the controversial 550-home estate known as 'Kingsnorth Green' in 2018.

However, it was never officially signed off due to environmental issues linked to the Stodmarsh Nature Reserve near Canterbury.

But, in November 2023, a government planning inspector allowed the estate to go ahead.

Also nearby, plans remain ongoing for 1,000 homes - dubbed Court Lodge - to be built on land south of Pound Lane in Kingsnorth.

Put forward in January 2019, Hallam Land Management lodged the outline application to build the properties as well as a two-form entry primary school, but a decision is still to be made.

And last year, Pentland Homes earmarked a 102-acre plot off Steeds Lane for a 625-home development - just a stone's throw from Ashford United's Homelands Stadium.

Finally, Hodson Developments' plans to build a further 650 homes at Possingham Farm, on land next to the 5,750-home Chilmington Green project, were approved in November - despite the development being refused a year previously.

The Planning Inspectorate gave the development the green light on November 22, saying the long-awaited Chart Road dual carriageway would “mitigate the traffic effects”.

Hodson, the lead company behind the ‘garden town’, is required to pay for the vital upgrades between the Matalan and ‘Tank’ roundabouts.

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However, KentOnline revealed last year how the developer is bidding to pull out of contributing more than £50 million worth of new infrastructure and community facilities - including the £30m major road improvement.

Next week, an inspector from the Planning Inspectorate will assess whether Hodson can back out of its promised funding.

That inquiry is scheduled to start on February 19.