Plans to knock down a garden centre and turn it into 12 homes to meet the demands of “growing families” have been given the go-ahead.

Medway Council green lit proposals from Provectus Developments to carve up the site of the Dillywood Garden Centre in Higham to make way for 12 four-bed detached homes earlier this week.

The plans will see the existing buildings on the site in Dillywood Lane, north of Strood, knocked down and a barrier of trees planted around the edge.

Concerns were raised about the road network and whether the site was suitable for the volume of cars which might result.

However, officers argued it is likely the amount of traffic would actually reduce because the change in use would mean only people living on the estate would need to travel there.

The plans were submitted in March last year, and although the site is in a rural area, it was argued it should be prioritised over houses being built on previously unused land.

On Wednesday (April 9) councillors on the planning committee praised the design of the scheme and called it “acceptable” development in a “classic grey belt” site.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) said it would be “very, very silly” to refuse the application..

“We need some quality housing in Medway, four-bedroom houses are not often built here, there is a shortage of that,” he explained.

“While some will say it won’t help those who are less able to afford that sort of property it will because this won’t be just for people moving from one four-bed to another.

“These will be bought by people moving from three-bed homes, as their families grow, which will release those three-bed properties for others.

“A good effort has been made to make it fit in with the Kentish countryside, because so many of the developments we get in our rural locations make no effort to fit in. Here, they have.”

Cllr Hazel Browne (Lab), said: “This is an acceptable application because my real worry is if we turn this down we will have a site that won’t contribute anything.

“It wouldn’t support any of the habitats which will be protected by the enhancements which are proposed and the developer contributions.

“I’m happy to support this based upon my fear if we didn’t have a reasonable application like this one we could have something far worse, and if there was no application we would have a derelict site which would be no use to anybody.”

The application received seven letters of objection, including from Higham Parish Council and the Dickens’ Country Protection Society, an organisation which “watches over” the former district council area where the famous author lived and worked.

They claimed the site represented ribbon development, where a line of homes are built alongside existing highway, and required changes to the road network to make it safer.

Cllr John Williams (IndGr), who represents the ward where the site is, wrote in objection to the proposals, saying the plans would stretch local infrastructure too far and damage the countryside.

He added: “The roads leading up to the site are very narrow single lane country roads with passing places and very eroded banks with limited lighting and with the increased traffic will put unacceptable stress on the local infrastructure.

“As a valuable resource, the countryside needs to be protected for its own sake.

“The loss of countryside to encroaching urbanising development must, therefore, be resisted.”

Cllr Matt Fearn (Con) asked how the current application was different from one made in 2003 which was rejected by the council and failed when it went to appeal.

That application was for nine homes, with two being a conversion of some of the existing buildings on the site.

He asked: “What’s changed since then? What was officer’s recommendation then? It was a much smaller scale application then.

“The fact it’s in the green belt does concern me. I accept it’s a well-designed development and if there wasn’t this application the land would be unused, I understand all that.

“But is it only the changes in the national planning policy framework that’s the difference?”

Peter Hockney, service manager for Medway Council, said there had been changes by the government which made the application acceptable, as well as other factors which weighed “in its favour”.

He said: “The biggest change is government policy in relation to the green belt, not only in terms of the recent change but even prior to that.

“Successive governments have been much more permissible of previously-used green belt sites being used for housing, particularly sites which decay.

“The other area, discussed at appeal, was the visual impact on the landscape.

“With this application, the quality of the design which is proposed, the low density and the enhancements to the landscape, these now weigh in its favour.”

The plans were approved with unanimous support from councillors on the planning committee.

Included within the conditions of the application was a total of £111,588 in developer contributions for education, with £21,163 going towards nurseries, £35,620 to primary schools, and £41,159.52 towards secondary schools.

A further £9,705 will go towards health services to create extra capacity for the new residents as a result of the development.

Dillywood has been trading for a number of years on the 16,600 sq m plot off the A289 and features a cafe, plants and home and outdoor accessories.

Soaring High, a bird of prey centre was previously based at the site, but closed its doors – sparking concerns about footfall.

No date has yet been set for the centre’s closure but at the time of writing it is advertising a closing down sale.