Councillors have criticised plans put out for consultation on how £170m on new infrastructure could be spent.

Medway Council is asking for feedback on what it hopes to do with government's Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) cash towards road, rail, and environmental improvements on the Hoo Peninsula to support the delivery of thousands of new homes.

A second consultation with a new supporting document was launched last week.

Among the changes to the previous ideas was the abandonment of plans for a 'flyover' which would have made a new access point onto the Hoo Peninsula from the A289 and a number of new community parks.

The proposals centre around building a new railway station and making Hoo St Werburgh a rural town, with a raft of road and environmental changes to bolster 12,000 new homes over the coming decades. The new consultation will run for six weeks.

Cllr Ron Sands (Ind), Peninsula ward councillor, was one of those who led a campaign petitioning against the flyover which was signed by more than 4,000 people.

He said while he was pleased to see the proposals for the flyover dropped, the document for the second round left him with more questions than answers.

One area of concern was the location for the access road to the new train station south of Sharnal Street.

He said: "It's very easy to say you're going to put a road here, we're going to put a railway line there, but of course, we know that with that railway line and with that road comes an enormous amount of housing.

"So it's very difficult to say, 'yeah, that's the right idea for a railway line there' when we don't actually know how many houses are going to go there."

The consultation documents says: "The team is continuing to work on the detail of the rail access road to ensure that Stoke Road roundabout and Ropers Lane can accommodate the level of predicted vehicle movements.

"On this basis works to the roundabout or to Ropers Lane cannot be ruled out and the route of the station access road presented in the early 2021 consultation may need to change.

"If works are required and the access road route does change, this will be presented as part of the planning processes for the HIF schemes."

Cllr Sands added: "With the Deangate Ridge Community Parkland, they're talking about 35 hectares of Deangate Ridge.

"Well, it's about 75 hectares I believe, and they haven't told us what we're going to do with the other 30-odd hectares.

"I think we have an idea but they haven't told us so again, how can we say how can we sit down with them when we haven't got the full picture?

"My big concern is we know from the Local Plan that was put out and then detracted that there's going to be a massive house building all around Hoo.

"They talked about it on Deangate, they talked about it and other places, and it doesn't show up on this, because it's not part of the HIF bid.

"They can't be seen separately, they have to be seen together.

"I'm not impressed, purely and simply because they're asking us to comment on something that is incomplete."

Medway's Local Plan was due to go to consultation subject to it gaining the backing of councillors in October, however, the vote was dropped at the 11th-hour after accusations the plans were incomplete and flawed.

The consultation document states: "Consideration of other infrastructure (such as medical centres, schools and leisure facilities) on the Hoo Peninsula is being advanced as part of the development of the Hoo Development Framework; this is a document that is being brought forward as part of the progression of the new Local Plan for Medway, which will be consulted on in due course."

Cllr Mick Pendergast (Ind), who also represents the areal, says not enough is being done to make improvements to the top end of the Peninsula such as where he is based in Lower Stoke.

He said: "Our end of the Peninsula gets absolutely nothing but grief. I've made it quite clear to them and all their consultations that I don't want nothing to do with it, I am not in favour of it in any way shape or form. Technically, they're cutting the bottom of the Peninsula off.

"Grain, Allhallows, High Halstow, Lower Stoke – and all the Stokes – get nothing from it, nothing at all."

George Crozer, chairman of the Deangate Community Partnership and High Halstow Parish Council, said he wanted to see more assessments of transport and ecological viability

He said: "They're telling us what they want to do, and they're showing us the glossy pictures, but they're not showing us the detail and they're not showing us the evidence.

"They're showing us the bits they think we want to see. They've shown us the environmental things that they're doing and stuff like that, but they're not showing us where the house is going or whether it's sustainable.

"We need to know if it's sustainable because we don't think it is."

Consultation documents and details of in person events happening this throughout this month can be viewed online.

Council leader Alan Jarrett (Con), previously said of the fresh consultation: “The Future Hoo proposals have evolved. This consultation shows how we have listened and we want again to seek the views of residents.

“We are often urged to do everything we can to protect the environment and ensure the all-important infrastructure is in place ahead of any new housing – the government’s £170m investment allows us to achieve this.

"In addition, securing financial contributions from future house builders means the delivery of new community, medical and educational facilities will keep pace with the delivery of any new homes.”