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Council set to approve homes, school and wedding venue in Frindsbury

Extensive plans for new homes and a secondary school are set to be given the green light.

Medway Council has recommend approval for a proposal which would see 181 homes alongside a new academy school and a wedding venue in Frindsbury near Strood.

A birds-eye view of what the school site and surrounding area could look like. Picture Bowmer and Kirkland
A birds-eye view of what the school site and surrounding area could look like. Picture Bowmer and Kirkland

The site, which is the size of 134 football fields, lays between A289 Berwick Way, Upnor Road, Parsonage Lane and A228 Frindsbury Hill.

The homes – a quarter of which will be affordable – include houses, maisonettes, and flats while the Maritime Academy would have places for 1,150 pupils.

It is due to be run by the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, which also runs Holcombe and Rochester Grammar schools, and the Victory Academy.

It would be accessed from Frindsbury Hill and would consist of a three-story block with sports pitches and a sixth form.

The application also includes a plan to convert the Grade I-Listed Manor Farm barn into a venue for weddings with up to 164 guests.

A 3D drawing of the outside of the new school in Frindsbury Hill. Picture Bowmer and Kirkland
A 3D drawing of the outside of the new school in Frindsbury Hill. Picture Bowmer and Kirkland
An impression of what the barn wedding venue could look like. Picture: Clague Architects
An impression of what the barn wedding venue could look like. Picture: Clague Architects

The site, which could also be used as a conference facility, dates back to the 14th century and overnight accommodation with nine bedrooms would be created out of an old cow shed.

The plans are being put together jointly by Heritage Design and Development Team Ltd and the Department for Education.

The council received more than 40 letters of objection, with MP Kelly Tolhurst arguing the school was being placed in the most-congested part of the area.

Frindsbury Extra Parish Council wrote to the council to say while it did not object to the proposals for the barn and the school, they thought the housing plan would amount to over development.

Medway's planning department concluded there is an "immediate need" for the school and the homes would contribute to the area's five-year housing supply.

An architect's impression of what the inside of the barn wedding venue could look like. Picture: Clague Architects
An architect's impression of what the inside of the barn wedding venue could look like. Picture: Clague Architects
A site overview showing the secondary school, housing estate, and wedding venue. Picture: Ares Landscape Architects
A site overview showing the secondary school, housing estate, and wedding venue. Picture: Ares Landscape Architects

It also said the conversion of the barn would secure the long-term conservation of the structure, which was previously blighted by a fire and damaged by anti-social behaviour.

The application will be discussed during a meeting of the council's planning committee on Wednesday (August 18).

Read more: All the latest news from Medway

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