Plans to build more than 1,000 homes and 850,000 sq ft of commercial space in Kent have been quashed.
Sevenoaks district council this week rejected proposals by US-based developer Hines and RREEF, the property arm of Deutsche Bank, to redevelop the 330-acre Fort Halstead site.
Hines and RREEF, with defence technology company QinetiQ, lodged Aedas Architects-designed plans in October to build a mixed-use scheme that included new offices for QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Lab.
However, the council has thrown out the proposals as it wants to retain the site for science-based employment use.
Hines UK director Simon O’Donnell said: “This is a lost opportunity for a world-class development on 100 developable acres, and for a response to the housing shortage in the South East and Sevenoaks that would deliver integrated affordable housing on a meaningful scale. We will be reviewing our options.”
Hines and RREEF bought the site from QinetiQ five years ago for more than £50m.
paul.norman@estatesgazette.com
