Plans have been unveiled to build a housing estate on land classified as being at high risk of bomb explosions.

A site in Sacketts Hill, Broadstairs, is being earmarked for development despite contamination experts warning of unexploded ordnances buried in the area.

Until 2019, the plot was home to waste transfer firm W Brazil and Sons, with an Environment Agency licence still active to shift 141 tonnes a day.

But in papers submitted to Thanet District Council (TDC), developer the 1948 Group has vowed to give the land a new lease of life, saying: “The proposal presents a unique opportunity to remedy the unattractive condition of the site and secure the remediation of previously developed land.

“Activities arising from this use have shaped much of the prevailing site character, which includes large areas of hardstanding, ancillary structures and buildings of varying condition and size including portacabins and containers.

“It is considered that the unique characteristics of this site provide an opportunity to secure the benefits of a residential scheme that will both conserve and enhance the character of the countryside and safeguard the purpose and functioning of the Green Wedge.

“The application seeks to secure the reuse of the brownfield site for much-needed residential development, including affordable housing, and proposes to secure this entirely within the interior of the existing perimeter woodland to the site.”

Plans to develop the 2.6 hectares of land prompted warnings from contamination experts of the potential presence of unexploded bombs in the area.

Identified as an area with a bombing density of more than 50 explosive devices per 1,000 acres of land, a special risk assessment would be required prior to any ground being broken.

However, Ecologia, the firm which assessed the bomb threat, was keen to stress a High Bomb Risk is more common in the county than people think – largely due to Kent’s key role in both world wars.

The site sits just off the A255 and A256, and is close to the QEQM Hospital in Margate.

If the application is approved, 20 two-storey homes would be built, ranging from one-bed to four-bed properties, while an existing building in the vicinity called The Lodge would remain standing.

Previous attempts to get the project off the ground saw a pre-application submitted for 12 homes on the site in 2022 – though attention was drawn to the important strategic role of the ‘Green Wedge’ in retaining separation between the Thanet towns.

According to TDC’s draft Local Plan, the coastal towns of the district are “separated by three particularly important areas of open countryside which are known as the Green Wedges indicated on the policies map”.

TDC says this is “significant in shaping the character of Thanet which has historically been a 'horseshoe' of built development wrapping around the coast”, meaning council support for development in the Green Wedge areas can be hard to come by.