Plan to regenerate Dartford submitted by supermarket giant
Revised plans to regenerate Dartford’s town centre with a new Tesco supermarket, as well as other retail outlets and over a hundred new homes, have been submitted by the supermarket giant.
Following a public inquiry back in 2005, planning permission for the homes, as well as a Tesco store, on Lowfield Street was thrown out by the government. However, Tesco revealed that it had listened to local residents’ concerns and had returned with a scheme that was slightly smaller in scale and would be more satisfactory to them.
If the move is confirmed, the company has suggested that it will create around 400 jobs for local residents. While there were plans to build 937 houses, just 176 will be built now with plans for access roads closer to a war memorial also dropped. As well as this, the company has also guaranteed that it will create a new clubhouse for Glentworth’s Ex-Service Club while preserving a car park on Market Street that has been around for decades.
Clearly pleased by the submitted plans, the local borough council hopes the new shopping complex, which includes a Tesco superstore as well as affordable housing, will revitalise the town. When the original scheme was proposed however, its construction would have meant that part of Lowfield Street would have had to be destroyed to make way for a road running through Central Park, which was fiercely opposed by the area’s residents.
Jeremy Kite, who is the head of the Conservative-run council that runs the area, expressed his belief that the new design will successfully reflect Dartford’s market-town traditions.