Stunning drone pictures show how a former quarry has been turned into a huge coastal housing estate – that’s only going to get bigger

Outline planning permission for a development of 1,050 homes at Nickoll’s Quarry, between Hythe and Dymchurch, was first granted in 2010.

Four hundred homes have already been built at Barratt Homes’ Martello Lakes site, as seen in our aerial images.

Now, new proposals put forward by another developer, Vistry, detail the designs for 200 out of the remaining 650 to be built.

The drone photographs show the former quarry land onto which the estate will continue to expand – while computer-generated images reveal what the houses could look like.

Vistry plans to “create an attractive, high quality and sustainable neighbourhood,” which will “enhance the attraction of Hythe as a place to live,” planning documents say.

The estate will be “a development which is designed to integrate into its landscape setting, and into Hythe’s planned expansion,” the documents add.

Of the 200 homes to be built, 44 are slated to be affordable.

Half of those will be one- and two-bedroom apartments available at affordable rents. The remaining 22 will be two-, three- and four-bedroom houses sold under shared ownership schemes.

Affordable rent means the costs must be at least 20% below market rate. Under shared ownership, prospective buyers purchase a percentage of the house on a mortgage, while paying rent to developers on the remaining percentage.

Parts of the estate on Dymchurch Road - which has its own lake - are slated to have a “maritime theme”, as some houses will be built close to the quarry lagoon.

It is not yet known when Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s planning committee will decide on the application, but an internal deadline of April 24 has been set.