A major scheme to knock down buildings once home to a town centre supermarket and turn them into hundreds of new flats has been given the go-ahead.

The former Go Outdoors building, which was once occupied by Tesco, in The Brook, Chatham, is in the process of being torn down.

Plans for 319 flats on the site were unanimously approved by Medway Council’s planning committee at a meeting last night (June 4) in a move which will also unlock a major cash pot of investment in the town.

The application was submitted in December by Arpenteur Nightingale Ltd and the demolition of the disused buildings began in March.

Officers recommended the plans for approval with committee members agreeing the plans would help regenerate the town and provide much-needed housing.

However, some concerns were raised over the lack of affordable housing and the fact the height of the buildings contradicted rules outlined in the Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Plan.

But Council leader and ward councillor for the area, Vince Maple (Lab) called the application “balanced” and said the proposed scheme was better than having empty buildings.

“I think we have a balanced application in front of us tonight - it’s a much better application than where it started from,” he added.

“Nobody wants an empty supermarket in their ward and which is effectively what we’ve had for some time - that doesn’t benefit anybody.

“But the fact this is not compliant with the Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Plan is frustrating, and in particular the lack of genuine engagement from the developer is very disappointing.”

He added this could be remedied by the developers forming a working group with locals to decide how Section 106 contributions — contracts to ensure that developer’s cash stumped up mitigates the impact of new developments on the local community — are to be used in the area.

Cllr Maple added: “We’re looking at around half a million pounds of investment into Chatham town centre, so I would encourage the committee to agree there be a working group made up of ward councillors, members of the Chatham Town Centre Forum and members from the Arches Chatham Neighbourhood Plan team to plan where that funding will go.”

He also said although flats were right for this specific site, in future he would like to see developments which created houses in the centre of Chatham as well.

Members of the committee agreed with Cllr Maple on the pros and cons of the scheme.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) said the benefit of the redevelopment of the empty site outweighed small downsides, and feared asking for more changes to the scheme could result in nothing getting done at all.

He added: “I think if you put this application on the scales, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

“This will make a substantial contribution towards our housing numbers and as a bookend of The Brook it’s in a very prominent position.

“The height is an issue in relation to the neighbourhood plan, but we’ve got to face reality here - if we chop and change the plans, this scheme will not be viable.

“Over the road from this site is the Buzz Bingo site where we’ve had extensive discussions with the developer but nothing has come forward.

“If we turn this down, or try to get some alterations, we won’t get anything at all and this end of Chatham certainly needs a shot in the arm.”

Officers said that while there were aspects of the scheme which did not abide by the neighbourhood plan, it had been significantly adapted to comply with as much of it as possible.

To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.

They said the neighbourhood plan carried significant weight in the decision making process.

Medway Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve the scheme on the condition a working group of local stakeholders be drawn up to decide how s106 money would be spent.