McCarthy Stone plans retirement home for land near Preston Hall in Aylesford

Retirement homes developer McCarthy Stone has revealed plans for another elderly living complex.

The company is targeting a site at the Royal British Legion Village off St Andrew’s Close, near Preston Hall in Aylesford.

The red line indicates the outline of the proposed development.

The plot is just north of the A20 London Road, close to the junction with Hermitage Lane.

No formal planning application has yet been made but the company said it was considering a complex of 50 homes, with 25 one-bedroom and 25 two-bedroom flats.

There would be communal areas and landscaped gardens.

The site is currently parkland that historically formed part of the Preston Hall estate. It is bordered by trees, some of which would have to be felled.

The company said: “We design our schemes to express an individual character of their own to meet the needs of our residents and reflect the surrounding area.

McCarthy and Stone's initial suggested layout for St Andrew's Close

“The building has been carefully positioned to retain as many of the existing trees as possible, this will not only protect the existing landscape of the site but will also help to screen the building from London Road.

“The trees that form a planned ‘avenue’ along the access to Preston Hall will be retained and the site building will be located as far as possible from the avenue of trees in order to respect the local landscape and setting of Grade II-listed Preston Hall.”

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Details can be viewed on McCarthy Stone’s website.

The scheme has not pleased resident Keith Taylor, who said: “This is a natural area of beauty and wildlife diversity will be lost.

The parkland off St Andrew’s Close in Aylesford

“Some of the trees are hundreds of years old combatting CO2 emissions by creating oxygen. It’s a wonderful area where many people exercise their dogs.”

The work caused outrage when mature trees were felled to make way for the new road layout.

Meanwhile, McCarthy Stone recently had plans approved for a 62-flat complex on a former bowls club in Gravesend.

The proposals had been branded “scandalous” by people living nearby.