Residents fear plans for yet another housing estate in the middle of their village will make living there "intolerable".

Sunningdale House Developments has submitted the bid for the 95-home development on land behind existing homes in Monkton Road, Minster, to Thanet District Council.

It says the homes - which will range from one-bed flats to five-bed houses - will be "an attractive, sustainable development that makes a positive contribution to the character of the village".

In documents submitted to the local authority, the firm pledges to "ensure a diverse and visually interesting street scene" that will be "of high quality".

It says: "An open area of green space runs through the heart of the development, providing visual and physical connectivity through the site to the open fields beyond.

"The development provides an appropriate mixture of dwelling type and size that responds to the housing need of the local area and village location."

If approved, it would be the Sandwich-based firm's 14th Kent development since it began building less than nine years ago, with a further six estates being built across the south.

It is not yet known how much the project could cost or what timeframe developers have in mind.

But critics have called for the project on Grade 1 farmland - which would be the fourth major housing development in the village in less than 15 years - to be shelved.

Cllr Reece Pugh, who represents Thanet's villages, said the plans took him by surprise, and confirmed his intentions to fight the scheme.

"I received notification of this application in the middle of last week, it came right out of the blue," said the Tory councillor.

"Quite honestly, I'm not convinced that it would be safe to build housing there. If it was suitable and wasn't susceptible to flooding it would have been built on years ago.

"It's not designated within the local plan for development, it's not needed, it's landowners trying their luck.

"There's only so far you can go before you start to erode and destroy the character of these villages.

"I'm not against development at all, the population is growing, but Minster has had its fair share of development, and I think any more will overwhelm the village.

"To say this is overkill is an understatement."

Monkton Road, along with the wider area of Minster, has been subject to multiple planning applications in the past 15 years, with varying degrees of success.

"What was once a desirable place to live has become intolerable. The Thanet villages and countryside will be no more..."

The 100-dwelling Heronsbrook development on land at Molineux, Thorne and Monkton Road was completed in 2010, a year after some of the wooden-framed luxury homes went up in flames.

More recently, plans for 36 houses in Monkton Road, next to the Heronsbrook site, were approved in 2019 and are believed to be near completion.

Opponents of the scheme have also referred to the Tothill Street development in Minster, which saw 214 homes rubber-stamped by the council in 2019.

However, plans for a 115-strong site north of Foxborough Lane, just minutes away from Monkton Road, was rejected by authorities last summer.

Leisa Emery submitted her objections to the new Monkton Road development as she lamented the loss of a "desirable place to live".

"Another beautiful open space, with a public right of way through the middle, where fellow villagers walk every day and crops are grown, disappearing under more concrete, for some faceless housing developer to fatten their wallet.

"What was once a desirable place to live has become intolerable. The Thanet villages and countryside will be no more.

"They will be over-developed towns, with no infrastructure, no one able to get a doctors appointment ever again, and villagers unable to sell up as no one will want to live here."

Gary Card took aim at the developers, who are currently building the previously mentioned 36-house development on the road, branding them "fat cats".

He said: "The builders are going to be Sunningdale, who at the moment are building 36 houses which has been ongoing for four years and is still ongoing.

"If it is taking four-plus years to build 36 houses, how long, and how much chaos and anguish, is it going to cause to build 95?

"Do not build any more housing estates. Think of the people who live here and not the fat cats that line their pockets."

Other concerns with the plans are said to be flooding, traffic and additional strain on village services such as the school and GP.

Sunningdale House Developments was unavailable for comment.