Land Securities’ Ebbsfleet Valley scheme moves ahead
A thousand-acre residential building development and prospects for a million square metres of commercial property development in the Kent Thameside region moved closer yesterday. Plans for the first phase of the Ebbsfleet Valley scheme, between Dartford and Gravesend in Kent, have finally been agreed by the government, three local councils and developer Land Securities.
The initial Eastern Quarry development will see 1,500 homes built on land opposite the Bluewater shopping centre. Land Securities has spent more than £100m preparing the site for development, but construction work had been stalled by rising costs, the credit crisis and the need for government investment in transport improvements to the area. Now agreement has been reached to unlock the funding for junction improvements on the nearby A2 so that a housebuilding partner can begin construction.
The government noted that “Eastern Quarry forms part of longer-term plans which are expected to unlock the development of 22,600 homes and around 1 million sq m of commercial development across the Kent Thameside region over the next 20 years”.
