A £50 million regeneration scheme for Buckland Mill at Dover could bring contemporary loft living and cafe culture to the town.

The ambitious project for the disused paper mill has been revealed by SEEDA (the South East England Development Agency).

SEEDA bought the site in 2002 and plans a mix of 300 homes and landscaped public areas, centred around the river Dour.

Housing will be a mix of one and two-bedroom loft-style flats, while three and four bedroom houses are aimed at families. Some of the existing mill buildings will be converted, while other houses will be new builds.

Public spaces along the Dour are to be opened up and footbridges created over the river. The buildings backing on to London Road will become flats, which overlook an “urban square” area, featuring bars, restaurants, a convenience store and some sort of community resource.

SEEDA wants to know what community-type resource people would like to see on the site.

It will also feature a 60-bed nursing home and the developers say the regenerated site will also offer 100 jobs.

At Tuesday’s presentation, SEEDA’s partners, Gillcrest Homes and ctm architects, said the development would not be a closed, gated one, but would open up the currently derelict mill site to local people.

SEEDA wants to know what sort of community facility people would like to see. Ideas so far include some sort of medical, or “healthy living” centre.

A charity called Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation (NIF) is running the consultation. People can have their say on Saturday. From 8.30am to 11am, representatives will be at Tesco, Whitfield, from noon to 3pm at Dover Discovery Centre, Market Square, and 4pm to 5pm by the rectory at St Andrew’s Church, Buckland. People can also have a say, this Thursday, (July 13) at the London Road Community Forum meeting, in King’s Hall, at 7.30pm.