Check the latest public notices in your area – planning, roads and licensing
Groundwork is underway at a “landmark site” on part of a college campus to bring almost 100 new homes to the area.
Bellway officially acquired the land at the western part of North Kent College in Dartford last year and started knocking down several of the redundant buildings.
The demolition has now been completed, and groundworks are underway to prepare the site for the construction of 65 new-build homes and apartments.
Of those, there will be 37 three-, four-, and five-bedroom homes for private sale and 28 houses and flats available as affordable housing for local people.
They will be energy-efficient homes, with solar panels and air source heat pumps to reduce carbon emissions and electric vehicle charging points.
The development, known as Cedarcroft, will also see the historic Kingsfield House converted into 27 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, and the former security office, The Lodge, will be converted into a three-bedroom house.
In total, there will be 93 new homes built on the 10.47-acre site off Oakfield Lane, which will also feature landscaped areas and a children’s play area.
Acting head of sales for Bellway Thames Gateway, Ed Brading, said: “Cedarcroft is set to transform this part of the North Kent College campus into an attractive new residential community for Dartford.
“The main part of Kingsfield House is being retained and restored to become a landmark feature within the new neighbourhood, and we have now completed the demolition of the unattractive modern extensions which previously detracted from the building’s appearance.
“Our development will start a new chapter for this landmark site, and we are looking forward to welcoming the first visitors to the development when it opens later this year.”
The development, which was approved by Dartford council in 2024, is due to open this autumn.
Kingsfield House was built in 1859 for stockbroker Edward Satterthwaite before being sold to Swedish PE instructor and women’s suffrage pioneer Madame Martina Bergman-Osterberg in 1895.
She set up a physical training college specialising in gymnastics for girls and young women and is credited with inventing netball at the site.
Her life is commemorated by two blue English Heritage plaques, one of which is at Kingsfield House, which has been empty since 2022.
The college continued to expand following Madame Osterberg’s death in 1915 and was renamed several times, most recently to North Kent College in 2015.
The campus was also previously occupied by the University of Greenwich.
